Rory McIlroy ‘will lose $3MILLION after backing out of the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head’

Rory McIlroy’s recently announced withdrawal from the RBC Heritage will cost him $3million in earnings, according to a report.

That’s reportedly due to a rule in the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program – where McIlroy will lose $3m of the $12m he earned last year from his finish in the PIP.

The PIP is the tour’s evaluation of the most popular players who, in theory, generate the most money for the PGA Tour. Last year, McIlroy finished runner up in the PIP to Tiger Woods.

According to the rules of the PIP, the players must participate in all but one of what the PGA Tour has called ‘designated events’ – high profile dates on the tour’s calendar that saw purses increase to at least $20m.

McIlroy already missed one ‘designated event’ when he skipped the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Now that he’s passing on playing at the Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Island, SC – he’ll be missing another. 

Rory McIlroy will miss $3m of the $12m prize he earned in last year’s Player Impact Program

McIlroy already missed one designated event when he skipped the Tournament of Champions, so by skipping out on the RBC Heritage in South Carolina, he’ll lose some prize money

This follows a dismal performance at last week’s Masters – where he missed the cut

In addition to the three FedEx Cup Playoff events – the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, the BMW Championship in Illinois, and the Tour Championship in Atlanta – there are three more ‘designated events’ left on the calendar after the Heritage.

Those three events are the Wells Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC, the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH, and the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.

All of this changes next year, when the Tour will stop requiring players to participate in these ‘designated events’ for 2024 – however, there will be an increase in FedEx Cup points at these tournaments to try and incentivize players to return.

McIlroy’s withdrawal comes after a dismal performance at the Masters – where he failed to make the cut at Augusta. Neither McIlroy or his camp have explained why he withdrew from the Heritage.

Masters champion Jon Rahm mentioned that he did consider withdrawing to take some time off after an exhausting week.  

‘It did cross my mind [to withdraw],’ he said.’It did cross my mind, but I made a commitment earlier in the year, and I want to honor that commitment. 

‘I also, talking to [my wife] Kelley, I put myself in the shoes of not only the spectators but the kids as well. If I was one of the kids, I would want to see the recent Masters champion play, good or bad, just want to be there.’