Rory McIlroy's 2017 schedule will start in South Africa.
McIlroy said he will start the year with the the South Africa Open, Jan. 12-15, followed by his typical United Arab Emirates openers at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Omega Dubai Desert Classic. However, a rib injury suffered while finishing second in South Africa has sidelined his intended schedule.
Instead of making his first PGA Tour start of the year at the Genesis Open (formerly the Northern Trust Open) at Riviera Country Club and then a home game at The Honda Classic, McIlroy said he intends to return at the WGC-Mexico Championship. From there, he will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, leading to the Masters.
"That's a lot. I'm taking four weeks off after Augusta so I've got a busy stretch up to Augusta," McIlroy said, according to Golfweek. "It'll be the busiest I've been going up to Augusta but, because I'm taking four weeks off after Augusta, I feel like it's a good time to be busy and play a lot."
McIlroy will then take off until The Players. He'll, of course, compete in the other three majors and World Golf Championships, and he'll play in his Irish Open, the BMW PGA Championship. However, we also know McIlroy will have to add a new PGA Tour event to his schedule, one he hasn't played in the last four years, choosing the Travelers Championship in June.
In an effort to fully heal from the nagging rib injury from South Africa, McIlroy will play in the FedEx Cup playoffs until he is eliminated, then compete in the European Tour's British Masters from Sept. 28 - Oct. 1 and Dunhill Links Championship from Oct. 5-8, then call it a year.
