PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed Wednesday that Rory McIlroy will lose $3 million of his Player Impact Program bonus from 2022 for missing a second designated event last month.
Last year, McIlroy finished second to Tiger Woods in the PIP program, which measures a player’s popularity and impact on tour. McIlroy was set to collect $12 million. Instead, he’ll get $9 million after forfeiting 25% of the bonus for not making a start in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
It was the second time McIlroy opted out of a new designated event this season. He also skipped the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii in January. PGA Tour rules require players to compete in all but one this season.
“When we made the commitment to this schedule with the Player Impact Program, we adjusted for one opt-out,” Monahan said. “Then for any second opt-out, you forfeit the 25%, unless there was a medical issue. Based on that criteria, it’s actually fairly cut and dry.”
On Tuesday, McIlroy told reporters at the Wells Fargo Championship that he needed time to mentally recharge after missing the cut at the Masters. It was the ninth straight time he failed to complete the career grand slam by winning a green jacket. He said his “mind wouldn’t have been there” if he’d played in the RBC Heritage the following week.
“As [McIlroy] laid it out, if a player is going to miss a second event to reset and to refresh, then he knew that and he knew, as he said, the consequences,” Monahan said. “First of all, a player should be able to make a decision not to play. I think that’s the beauty of our model. But he knows the consequences of that based on our criteria and that’s our position.”
Some players have said they don’t like having to compete in a designated event the week after a major championship. The Travelers Championship, another designated event, will be played the week after the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in June.
Monahan didn’t sound like he was ready to move the RBC Heritage to another week on the 2024 schedule.