09 March 2024 , 16:33
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Rory McIlroy has risked the wrath of some of his fellow players, after the four-time major winner called on the PGA Tour to hand out less playing cards moving forward.
McIlroy is in action at this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational in the hunt for his second victory around the iconic Bay Hill track. Following his second round, two-under-par 70 on Friday, the Northern Irishman once again discussed what the future of professional golf may look like.
And as always, the Northern Irishman was more than happy to share his opinion, even if he did feel it was an 'unpopular' one. “No, I mean, I’m all for making it more cut-throat, more competitive,” he said of the PGA Tour.
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"[I] Probably won’t be very popular for saying this, but I’m all for less players and less Tour cards, and the best of the best.” McIlroy was discussing the PGA Tour's Signature Event format, which has seen a group of tournaments receive elevated status, along with £16 million ($15m) prize purses.
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Only three of those implement a 36-hole cut, one being this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, as well as the Genesis Invitational and the Memorial Tournament, hosted by Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus respectively. McIlroy too discussed whether he felt the elevated events should include a cut, claiming that if that is the wish of the tournament host, then that is more than good enough for him.
"Yeah, I was indifferent," he added. "I think, when all these signature events were thought of, we were thinking no cut, but if it's important enough, or if it's that important to Tiger and Jack and if Arnold were alive, if it was important enough for him, then it's their tournament, at the end of the day, and they can do whatever they want.
Rory McIlroy is action at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2024 Getty Images)"I could have went either way, but if it's important enough to those guys, then we'll have a cut." If he is to land his second victory at Bay Hill this week, the Northern Irishman will have to put in quite the weekend performance, as he currently sits six shots off the leading pack.
There were improving signs on Friday, and this appeared to be down to his efforts on the greens, after the Northern Irishman was seen putting in some extra work with his putter following a frustrating one-over 73 a day earlier. "I don't know what the stats look like, but [putting]definitely felt a little better out there," he claimed.
"Didn't work on much. I mean, speed, I felt my speed was just a bit off more than anything. The greens look faster than what they are, so just trying to be a little more assertive with my speeds. Then, yeah, worked on a couple little things. I sort of sometimes with the mallet, because it is so much easier to start it on line, you get a little lazy.
"So, I brought the blade out last night just to hit a few putts to sort of get a feel of what I need to do to get the ball to the start on line with a real putter (laughing). Yeah, so worked a little bit on that. A little bit of sort of transition work from sort of back swing to through swing in the stroke. Yeah, it felt much better today."