Rory McIlroy gives major calendar update as he confirms for huge event
Rory McIlroy has officially committed to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The event is not until next month, but the Northern Irishman has officially committed to a place in the field. It's one of the Signature Events on the calendar, and it will have the former Major winner in the field.
The event is set to be held at Bay Hill, which McIlroy has done exceptionally well at as of late. In his last eight starts, he has a victory and six top-10 placements.
The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational was won by Scottie Scheffler as part of his historic season. He ended up winning nine times all told during 2024, including at Bay Hill. McIlroy was T21 after a dismal +4 final round that broke his streak of top-10 finishes.
McIlroy has been on a bit of a hot streak to start 2025. He began play at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour and finished T4. He was then victorious on his PGA Tour season debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am by two strokes over Shane Lowry.
He also finished T17 at the Genesis Invitational last weekend at Torrey Pines. He has also been playing on TGL with Boston Common Golf Club.
Rory McIlroy addresses key rule change in TGL matches
Last night during a TGL triple-header, the golf league debuted new hammers, which are flags the team can use to double the points of a hole. If they use them strategically, they can easily come back in a match that was once a lost cause.
That's how Rory McIlroy views them. He said via Golf Magic:
"This is the first day that we've had these new hammer rules. And every match was really tight. I think it enables a team, if they go down in a match, to come back."
As far as direct application, McIlroy said his team having the hammers helped them have faith they could come back. They didn't come back, but they believed they could until the very end.
He went on:
"We were 4-3 down going into the last three holes. But we still had two hammers, so it felt like we were almost -- it felt like we were tied, you know, just knowing we had those extra two hammers."
He added:
"So I think it's a really good change. You still have to be strategic with them because you don't want to -- The Bay threw their hammers early in the match and didn't have any for the last few holes, and we kept ours a little bit, and that enabled us to keep ourselves in the match."
Rory McIlroy's team is still in search of its maiden TGL victory after a close loss last night.