| lily |
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| Joined: 22 Oct 2011 |
| Posts: 351 |
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When Rory McIlroy walked onto the first tee Sunday at the U.S. Open, he briefly acknowledged one golf official and quickly extended his hand to warmly greet two others, USGA executive director Mike Davis and USGA president Jim Hyler.
That scene was a reminder that while a star was born outside the nation’s capital, McIlroy is only a part-time golfer in America.
McIlroy decided last year not to renew his PGA Tour membership, which required him to play Callaway FT-i Squareway Wood
15 times. He now can play only 10 events a year. The tour amended its policy so The Players Championship would not count against the 10, but McIlroy chose not to play that, either.
There are no hard feelings with the PGA Tour, or with Finchem. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland simply found himself playing Callaway FT-i Squareway Wood
too much right about the time the FedEx Cup playoffs got under way in late August, which would be the reason to take up membership in America in the first place.
Still, it leaves the PGA Tour with limited exposure of golf’s new Boy Wonder. And that wouldn’t seem to help as the tour negotiates a new television contract that expires after 2012.
“Rory’s performance in the U.S. Open has generated a lot of interest and a lot of excitement,” PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said Tuesday. “Who knows what the future holds with respect to his membership status.”
There is talk that McIlroy might consider joining the PGA Tour again, although likely not until the 2013 season. Chubby Chandler, his agent at International Sports Management, suggested Sunday evening that McIlroy has “a duty to be over here a little bit more being the Open champion.”
“So I think obviously there’s a good chance that he’ll play a little bit more over here by Callaway FT-i Squareway Wood
,” Chandler said. “But he won’t play a lot because he can’t do both tours.” |
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