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The reason Rory McIlroy was hit with a $3 million fine by the PGA Tour in 2023

Originally posted on HITC | By Antony Martin | Last updated Sep 7, 2025 5:30 AM ET

When several players left for LIV Golf in June 2022, McIlroy, perhaps unintentionally, found himself as the face of the PGA Tour.

But that changed when commissioner Jay Monahan agreed to an initial framework deal with LIV Golf in 2023, a move that left McIlroy feeling blindsided.

The Northern Irishman wasn’t informed ahead of time and could have understandably felt let down. Since then, tensions between him and the tour have quietly persisted.

McIlroy skipped the first FedEx Cup playoff event last year. That decision didn’t go down well with PGA Tour leadership at all.

A few months later, McIlroy made it clear how much he appreciated working under new CEO Brian Rolapp compared to his predecessor.

Whatever conclusions you draw from that are up to you. But one thing is clear: he seems far more comfortable these days when he’s playing back in Europe than when he’s stateside.

“It was a surprise,” he said on BBC Sport’s The Sports Desk. “I wasn’t involved or informed about any of it.”

Why the PGA Tour hit Rory McIlroy with a $3 million fine in 2023

The way the PGA Tour manages its Signature Events has changed quite a bit over the past couple of years.

Back in 2023, there were eight elevated events, and players were only allowed to miss one without facing penalties.

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

This season, McIlroy skipped three of them – The Sentry, The RBC Heritage, and The Memorial Tournament – but the rules now allow him to do that without any issue from the Tour.

But two years ago, after already missing one Signature Event, he chose not to play at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Links.

That decision cost him 25 per cent of his Player Impact Program (PIP) bonus. With the bonus set at $12m that year, it meant he was hit with a huge $3 million fine by the Tour.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

He explained why he accepted it as well: “I missed Hilton Head last year to spend Easter with my family. I had never gone home for Easter throughout my career.”

The system now gives players more flexibility over which Signature Events they choose to compete in.

PGA Tour fine of $3 million gets Rory McIlroy reaction

McIlroy responded when it came to light that he was being punished by the PGA Tour for missing more than one Signature Event in 2023.

He said: “I had my reasons to not play Hilton Head and I expressed those to Jay (Monahan).

“It was an easy decision, but I felt like that fine, or whatever, was worth that for me in order to get some things in place.“

Fair play to the 2025 Masters champion. He very much marches to the beat of his own drum at this stage of his career and he will always choose where and when he wants to play.

That said, McIlroy is in a privileged position whereby he can afford to lose out on that kind of money.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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