Rory McIlroy turns nose up at £6.5m after sending PGA Tour message | Golf | Sport

Rory McIlroy will not participate in the 3M Open this week after he told the PGA Tour that the circuit is not his main priority. The Northern Irishman believes he has “other things” that come first ahead of his career, with his order of merit ranking promising safe passage into bigger tournaments.

McIlroy has 30 career wins on the PGA Tour and most recently won the Masters, going back-to-back at Augusta National. Sitting 11th in the FedEx Cup standings, the 37-year-old is choosing to spend time with his family rather than play in tournaments. He said: “There have been years where I’ve given it maybe more of my attention and years that I haven’t, I guess I’m just at a stage that I have other things that I prioritise. The PGA Tour is in a lot of flux at the minute with a lot of their schedule and structure and everything like that.

“So I think the change where it doesn’t matter where you are in the top 30 going into the Tour Championship, it’s like I just need to be in the top 30 going in there to have a chance to win a FedEx Cup, so why would I care about the first two? I sort of came to that decision last year, and I’m just sort of doing the same thing.”

The 3M Open, held in Minneapolis in the United States, has a prize purse of £6.5million ($8.8m). McIlroy has opted out of potentially taking home a chunk of this sum as he focuses on his wife, Erica and their daughter, Poppy.

He explained: “Poppy’s got another four weeks off school until she goes back, sort of middle to end of August, so just going to enjoy the summer holidays with her and Erica. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most.

“Then, obviously, I’ll get back to playing and still be in a decent position, I guess, in both title races. As long as I’m in the top 30 going into the Tour Championship, and then I’m in a decent spot still in the Race to Dubai, [then] try to play hard until the end of the season and then try to win one or both of those.”

McIlroy added: “I’ve really enjoyed my stretches of golf in Europe, really enjoyed that part of the year last year, and I’m looking forward to that again for sure.”

The Masters champion recently finished tied-40th at The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale as New Zealand’s Ryan Fox took home the title and achieved his first major win.