Rory McIlroy ‘will lose $3MILLION after pulling out of Hilton Head’s RBC Heritage’ over PGA Tour’s new designated event rules
- Under the rules of the PIP, McIlroy could only miss one “designated event” this year
- After skipping the Tournament of Champions, he loses money on this shot
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Rory McIlroy’s recently announced withdrawal from the RBC Heritage will cost him $3 million in revenue, according to a report.
That’s reportedly due to a rule in the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program – whereby McIlroy loses $3 million of the $12 million he made last year from his finish in the PIP.
The PIP is the tour’s evaluation of the most popular players who theoretically generate the most money for the PGA Tour. Last year McIlroy finished second in Tiger Woods’ PIP.
Under the PIP’s rules, players must participate in all but one of the “designated events,” what the PGA Tour calls “designated events”: high-profile dates on the tour’s calendar where prizes were raised to at least $20 million .
McIlroy already missed one designated event when he skipped the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Now that he is retiring from playing at the Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Island, SC, he will miss one more.
Rory McIlroy will miss $3 million of the $12 million prize he earned last year in the Player Impact Program
McIlroy has already missed one particular event when he skipped the Tournament of Champions, so by skipping South Carolina’s RBC Heritage, he loses some prize money
This follows a dismal performance at last week’s Masters where he missed the cut
In addition to the three FedEx Cup Playoff events – the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, the BMW Championship in Illinois and the Tour Championship in Atlanta – there are three more “designated events” on the calendar after the Heritage.
Those three events are the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC, the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH, and the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.
All this will change next year, when the Tour stops requiring players to compete in these ‘designated events’ for 2024 – however there will be an increase in FedEx Cup points at these tournaments to try and incentivize players to return to turn.
McIlroy’s withdrawal comes after a dismal performance at the Masters – where he failed to make the cut at Augusta. Neither McIlroy nor his camp have explained why he withdrew from the Heritage.
Masters champion Jon Rahm said he was considering retiring to take some time off after a tiring week.
‘It popped into my head [to withdraw]’, he said. “It occurred to me, but I made a commitment earlier this year and I want to keep that commitment.
‘Me too, talking to [my wife] Kelley, I put myself in the shoes not only of the spectators, but also of the children. If I were one of the kids I’d want to see the recent Masters champion play, good or bad, I’d just want to be there.”