McIlroy, 35, played his first match with his Boston Common Golf team on Monday, losing to fellow TGL co-founder Tiger Woods in overtime. He then traveled from Florida to California to make his first start of the 2025 PGA Tour season.

From the PGA Tour's standpoint, McIlroy believes less is more may be the way forward, urging the circuit's chiefs to "scale back" the tournament schedule. With nearly 50 PGA Tour-sanctioned events scheduled for 2025, the world No. 3 feels that it's simply too many to maintain viewer interest in the product.

Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland has spurned the advice from mentor Rory McIlroy by giving up a PGA Tour card to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf. McKibbin, a 22-year-old who won his only European tour event in 2023,