Rory McIlroy's 2017 schedule isn't quite set in concrete yet, as the now 11th-year pro will be adding the British Masters on the European Tour to his schedule for the remainder of the year.
After the PGA Championship in August, McIlroy said he was giving thought to hanging up the cleats for the remainder of the year, getting healthy in his rib and back and then coming back strong in 2018. Then he entered the FedEx Cup playoffs, admitting there were outside influences -- probably sponsors like Nike and TaylorMade, as well the PGA Tour since he was the defending FedEx Cup champion -- which pressured him to see his way through the third leg at the BMW Championship before being eliminated.
McIlroy had suggested he would play one more time in 2017 after the playoffs, competing in the European Tour's Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland in October. It's a hit-and-giggle kind of event that's the European equal to the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Now, McIlroy has added the British Masters, hosted by Lee Westwood at Close House, so he'll have two October European Tour events before shutting it down for 2017.
“I'm looking forward to playing my first British Masters for a while. I kind of had it in the back of my mind that if I didn't make the Tour Championship then there was a chance to tee it up at Close House, so I have decided to do that before finishing my season off the next week at the Dunhill Links," McIlroy said in a European Tour release.
He added, “Teeing it up next week gives me one more chance to end 2017 on a high as well. If I can sign off the year with a win or two in Newcastle and then St Andrews I would take so many positives into my six-week recovery period when I am going to reset mentally and physically and concentrate on getting myself in the right shape for next year.”
The event is played opposite the Presidents Cup, from Sept. 28 - Oct. 1.
