The PGA Tour has made a decision regarding the $3 million penalty Rory McIlroy was facing.
McIlroy was in jeopardy of losing $3 million for skipping the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, last month. His missed start was the second designated event of the year that he missed, which made him subject to a penalty from the PGA Tour.
The Tour allows players to miss one designated event per year. A second miss results in a player sacrificing 25 percent of their Player Impact Program bonus.
McIlroy made $12 million in the PIP program last year and had already been paid out 75 percent of his bonus. Rather than issue payment for the final $3 million, the Tour will not disburse the funds because McIlroy violated conditions, according to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach.
McIlroy knew at the time that he was putting the remaining $3 million in jeopardy by missing the event. The Tour allows for special circumstances, but they apparently did not find that McIlroy qualified for an exception.
“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,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay 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.”
The four-time major winner skipped the RBC Heritage after missing the cut at the Masters the week before. He said that his mind wouldn’t have been there had he tried to compete, which is why he skipped the event at Hilton Head.
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