Rory McIlroy: 'Something has gone terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50'

'It sucks,' added McIlroy when asked about the latest setback for his friend and TGL business partner Tiger Woods.

Rory McIlroy speaks to the media before a practice round of The Players Championship golf tournament. Pic: AP Photo/Chris O'Meara.

With Tiger Woods facing another lengthy recovery and rehab from Achilles tendon surgery that will likely carry him to eligibility for senior tour golf, Rory McIlroy made his intentions clear if his health holds out another 15 years until he approaches the 50 threshold.

“Absolutely not; I will not play Champions Tour golf,” McIlroy said Wednesday morning at TPC Sawgrass.

“Look, I’ve said a lot of absolutes in my time that I’ve walked back, but I do not envision playing Champions Tour golf. Something has gone terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50.”

The subject of end-of-career processing came up because Woods is facing yet another gruelling process of working his way back to competitive health in what has become the recurring nightmare of his career since 2011 when he was 35 – the same age McIlroy is now.

In the last 14 years, Woods has skipped 20 majors because of injuries and failed to finish 15 more in 54 opportunities — only making the cut 19 times and winning once at the 2019 Masters.

“It sucks,” McIlroy said of the latest setback for his friend and TGL business partner.

“Yeah, he doesn’t have much luck when it comes to injuries and his body. Obviously, he was trying to ramp up to get ready for Augusta, and Achilles surgeries obviously aren’t fun.

"Hoping he’s in good spirits and hoping he’s doing okay. We obviously won’t see him play golf this year, and hopefully, we see him maybe play in 2026. …

“Judging by prior behaviour, he'll definitely try."

Rory McIlroy tees off on the first hole during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill golf tournament. Pic: AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack.

McIlroy has enjoyed good health for nearly his entire career since turning professional at age 17, missing only one major start in the previous 16 seasons when he ruptured a ligament in his ankle during a kickabout with mates ahead of his Open Championship defense in 2015 at St. Andrews.

McIlroy said that should his body start breaking down as he ages, he won’t fight the inevitability of the end. “I’ll be okay with that; I’m very happy to move aside for the younger generation to come through,” he said.

“I’ve had an unbelievable … I turned pro in 2007. I’m 18 years into a career. Not a lot of athletes can say they’ve had an 18-year career, and I’m only 35. I can acknowledge how lucky golfers are to be able to do what they do for so long compared to other athletes, so whenever I feel like the time is right, I’ll have no problem moving aside and letting the next generation do their thing.”

How will he know when the time is right to step aside?

“I think when I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve in the game and I get to the point where I don’t think I can maybe do that anymore,” he said.

“I’d also like to walk away with a little bit left in the tank. I don’t want to be out there embarrassing myself. I’d like to walk away maybe a little before I should. … There’s always one more, but that’s okay. I think if you can come to terms with that and walk away on your own terms, then that’s a good thing.”

McIlroy is a long way off yet from that decision, and he’s entering the stretch of the season when some of the achievements he hasn’t completed yet are on deck — most notably the Masters and the next opportunity to complete the career slam and end an 11-year major drought.

To that end, McIlroy abandoned a new equipment setup he implemented for the first three rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill last week before reverting on Sunday to the same old three TaylorMade Qi10 woods and four-wedge setup he had when he won at Pebble Beach – “sort of going back to what I’m comfortable with.”

“I led strokes gained off the tee in both Pebble and Torrey, so it was a really good idea to change,” he said sarcastically after finishing T15 at Bay Hill.

“And then, like yesterday, I lost strokes off the tee, which is the first time I’ve done that in a long time.” He’s comfortable with his form heading into this week’s Players Championship with the Masters less than a month away.

“Yeah, it feels good. I’d say even the two finishes post-Pebble have been almost like the worst that they could be. I finished bad on Sunday at Bay Hill. I finished bad on Sunday at Torrey Pines, as well,” he said.

“But the one thing I would say is from the turnaround in my putting from Torrey to Bay Hill was great. I finished, I think, fifth in putting last week, so to see that turnaround was really encouraging.

"That’s something for me to be really encouraged about going into this week, obviously, and then the next few months.”