THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Rory McIlroy will cut back on the number of tournaments he plays next year, and while he didn't want to say which ones he will skip, he offered a few clues.
Singapore and Hong Kong are not on the 2013 European Tour schedule, and he played both this year. McIlroy also said he likely would not play the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn., the week before the U.S. Open. He added it this year because he had missed three straight cuts.
"I added that this year just to try to get a little bit more golf because I was only playing two-round tournaments," McIlroy said.
He said his schedule leading up to the Masters would at least include the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, the Honda Classic, Doral and the Shell Houston Open. That would mean McIlroy won't play the Dubai Desert Classic next year.
His post-Masters schedule at least will include The Players Championship, which began his streak of missing cuts. He said this year the TPC Sawgrass was a course that he would have to figure out how to play, even if it took him 20 years.
"I'm determined," McIlroy said. "I feel like I'm a good enough player to get around that course. But yeah, I at least want to see what the weekend is like there."
PAR IS YOUR FRIEND: What would happen if a PGA Tour player shot even par at every tournament? At the very least, he'd still have his card.
Throw out the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the four major championships, and count the tournaments opposite the World Golf Championships. Count the money earned for finishing at even par. The total comes out to $817,142, which would be the equivalent of finishing 111th on the money list.
The biggest check for finishing a tournament at even par was $119,867 at the Memorial, followed by $113,750 at the AT&T National. Tiger Woods won both those events.
DIVOTS: The European Tour schedule features a couple of changes, including the Maybank Malaysian Open moving from one week after the Masters to the same week as the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Louis Oosthuizen is the defending champion in Malaysia. Also, the Omega Masters in Switzerland is no longer the starting point for Europeans earning Ryder Cup points. That distinction goes to the Wales Open. ... The PGA Tour event in Mexico has a new title sponsor and a new date. The OHL Classic at Mayakoba, which had been opposite the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in late February, is moving to the back end of the new 2013-14 schedule. It will be played Nov. 14-17, and offer full FedExCup points.
FINAL WORD: "I know how it feels when you win a major championship, and it feels incredible. And that's something that I would like to have happen again." -- Tiger Woods.