Rory McIlroy's fans will be upset with latest claim from PGA Tour superstar

Rory McIlroy says he plans to play fewer PGA Tour events next year after he realised he hit a wall mentally following his U.S. Open heartbreak. 

McIlroy made the claim after he concluded his 14th season on the Tour at East Lake. 

The 35-year-old finished the season finale, the Tour Championship, with a score of 16-under. 

At the time he spoke to reporters, he was 14 shots behind champion Scottie Scheffler. 

McIlroy came into this season knowing that if he wasn't successful in the majors he would enter 2025 knowing it's been a full decade since his last triumph. 

The closest he came to ending his major drought came in June when he set up a glorious chance to claim the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No.2. 

He collapsed down the stretch and in truth he did not look the same after that. 

There were glimpses of quality and at one point McIlroy looked like he was going to secure a medal in the Olympics but was left to rue another mistake down the stretch in Paris. 

Going forward, McIlroy said, he will plan more breaks. 

"It's been a long season," McIlroy said. 

"And I'm going to just have to think about trying to build in a few extra breaks here and there next year and going forward because I felt like I hit a bit of a wall sort of post-U.S. Open, and still feel a little bit of that hangover."

McIlroy still has five events left to play in Europe. 

By the time he is finished he will have played 27 professional golf events in 2024.

That's too many, he claimed. 

"I'm going to cut back to 18 to 20 a year going forward," he said. 

"I'm usually sort of like a 22 sort of person. But again, that was when I was sort of in my 20s and didn't have the responsibilities that I do now."

"The lawyers have been talking a lot"

McIlroy spent the earlier part of this week lamenting the lack of progress between the PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF. 

The Ulsterman also outlined what is likely to happen should the deal fall through with LIV Golf's financiers. 

McIlroy denied it was the case that no talks have been held between the parties for a while. 

"Look, the lawyers have been talking a lot, and I think just the complexity of this deal from a legal standpoint is something that -- obviously we have nothing to add in that regard," McIlroy said.  

"So there's no point in us being on those calls."

"He makes more birdies than I do"

McIlroy also had some kind words to say about FedExCup champion Scottie Scheffler. 

Scheffler ran away with the season finale with a clinical performance in Atlanta, despite hitting an almighty shank. 

"He makes more birdies than I do and he makes less bogeys," McIlroy said when asked what the difference is. 

"That sort of adds up to him being a little bit better right now."

He added: "I think the one thing I've always admired about Scottie is the amount of bogey-free rounds he shoots. 

"If you just go back over the last two, three years and you look at how many rounds he shoots that he'll shoot like 4-under par, no bogeys, doesn't look spectacular at all, but it's just so solid, doesn't really put himself out of position. 

"When you don't make a ton of bogeys, the field has got to do something really special to keep up."

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