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McIlroy Adjusts Summer Schedule for Olympics

By Kathlene Bissell

May 5, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Rory McIlroy (NIR) lines up his putt on 17 during the first round of the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
May 5, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Rory McIlroy (NIR) lines up his putt on 17 during the first round of the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports /
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Rory McIlroy is building in rest periods between the major and the Olympic Games this summer.

Rory McIlroy will have a completely different schedule this spring and summer due to the placement of the Olympics.  He’s building in frequent rest along the way from now through the Tour Championship and Ryder Cup.

The compressed timing of events is the reason he took three weeks off after the Masters. He has, however, been working on an issue in his swing and started work on that last week.  He did not detail exactly what the issue was.

“I think I’ve played, you know, 18 holes in total since Augusta,” he said to media prior to the Wells Fargo Championship. “I’m working quite a lot on a couple of technical things coming into this week so, hopefully, I can continue to bed them in and get some competitive play.”

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After the Wells Fargo, he will go to The PLAYERS, the Irish Open, and then take a week off.

“It’s basically week on, week off from there,” he said. “Memorial, week off, U.S. Open, week off, French Open, week off, Open, week off, PGA, week off, Olympics, week off, FedExCup, Ryder Cup.  So there’s a lot of sort of week on, week off and there’s lot of travel in there as well, so it’s a busy stretch coming up.”

McIlroy is hoping his plan will keep him mentally fresh between now and October.  He will sneak in side trips to sites of majors during the off weeks. After The Memorial, he will make a trip to Oakmont, site of the U.S. Open.

“I’ve got a week off in between the French Open and The Open, and it’s only like a 20‑minute helicopter flight from my house in North Ireland to Troon,” he explained. “So I’m going to go back and forth that week a couple of times as well so I can stay at home but still play the golf course.”

He will get to Baltusrol, for the PGA, the Sunday before.

“We used to play at Firestone before the PGA, so we never really had a chance to go up and look at it,” he added. “So I’ve never done that anyway, so I don’t feel like it’s hurting my preparation at all this year.”

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As far as the Olympics, McIlroy noted that golf will be in the Olympics this year and again in Tokyo in 2020, and that there might not be another opportunity to be an Olympian other than those two times.  He knows he has a chance to come away with a gold medal.

“I don’t know how that will stack up against the other things that I’ve done in my career now, but maybe I might look back in 20 years time and a gold medal might be one of my crowning achievements in the game, you never know,” he said.  “I don’t have those issues of a family or anything else, that’s a good opportunity to go down and do something that you’ve never done before.  So, if nothing else, it will be a great experience.”

McIlroy knows his participation is important to Ireland.

“Paul McGinley is the Irish team captain and he is so into it.  He’s more into it than I am, quite honestly, but because he’s so into it, I would feel like I’m not only letting him down, I’d let the country down as well,” McIlroy said about what would happen if he didn’t play. “Paul’s a very close friend of mine and I feel like if I didn’t play, I would let him down big time.  So that’s why I want to go down and give it my best shot.”

Next: Spieth Going for Olympic Gold

Speaking of shots, during The PLAYERS, according to McIlroy, there will be doctors on site giving shots for Zika.  (As though playing the PGA Sawgrass Stadium Course wasn’t hard enough. )

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