Rory McIlroy continues 'crucial' season at Pebble Beach, discusses TGL
Rory McIlroy didn't have a problem with the swift turnaround from his first TGL match to his initial appearance on the 2025 PGA Tour season.
McIlroy's Boston Common GC made its debut on the TGL stage on Monday in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he competed against Tiger Woods. After Woods' Jupiter Links narrowly defeated Boston in overtime, McIlroy revealed that he left the arena around 9:30 p.m. and was in bed by 10.
The early flight to California for this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was not a major concern for McIlroy - at least he was flying west.
"I woke up at 5:00 this morning, took off at 7:00, landed here at 9:30 and here I am," McIlroy told reporters on Tuesday ahead of this week's prestigious event in Pebble Beach, California.
Not only did McIlroy gain valuable experience in his first TGL match, but he also began his season with a T4 finish at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, an event where he has consistently performed well. This week will mark his first PGA Tour start since the Tour Championship in August.
While some interviews with McIlroy in Europe this winter have portrayed 2025 as a crucial year for the four-time major champion, he was asked directly if he believes it will be a pivotal season.
"I think every year is pivotal. Every year is important," he stated. "I think there are a few things this year that make it perhaps a bit more significant for me.
"The Open (Championship) is returning to Portrush, so playing a major championship almost at home is a big deal. And then playing an away Ryder Cup, I've mentioned this many times, but I feel that winning an away Ryder Cup is one of the toughest things to do in golf at the moment. Obviously, the Europeans have the opportunity to do that, which would be really cool."
McIlroy's major championship drought reached 10 years after he came up short in 2024, with his closest miss being a second-place finish to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open after leading on the back nine on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman will have the chance to play the Open in his home country for the second time (he missed the cut at Portrush in 2019), and the PGA Championship in May will be held at Quail Hollow, where he has won the Wells Fargo Championship four times.
After the major season, McIlroy is sure to be one of the 12 players representing Team Europe at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
"In an away Ryder Cup, the key is not to let the home team get off to a strong start... if the away team falls behind, it's extremely difficult to catch up," McIlroy explained.
The year 2025 may also be a crucial one for McIlroy, 35, in other ways. He and Woods co-founded the TGL with sports TV executive Mike McCarley, and Monday marked the league's fourth and most entertaining match.
The TGL is starting to fit into the larger landscape of golf and entertainment, and McIlroy is not worried that golf fans' attention is being divided too much.
When asked if LIV, YouTube golf influencers, and now the TGL competing for viewers could diminish the PGA Tour product, McIlroy replied, "I think it already has. You know, I think it has already been diminished.
"Look, the one thing about the TGL is that it will only last for two months," he said. "You get a big burst of it in January, February, and a little bit of March, and then it's gone. It's gone for 10 months basically. I would say that it hopefully adds to the ecosystem in some way."
"YouTube is like golf entertainment adjacent, whatever you want to call it. Those guys are doing great. They found a niche and it's really cool and it serves a purpose for a lot of people. But look, I would much rather sit down and watch real golfers play real tournaments, and that's just my opinion. To me, that is more entertaining. But I understand that other people want something different, and that's totally fine as well."
He went on to suggest that it may benefit the PGA Tour to "scale back a bit" and operate with a bit more
