No, Rory McIlroy likely isn’t coming to the 3M Open
· Yahoo Sports
No, Rory McIlroy will not be teeing it up at the 3M Open next month. He will not reach the PGA Tour member’s minimum of 15 events this season. And there will be no penalty for it.
While the handbook suggests coming short of that number while receiving unlimited releases to play on other tours jeopardizes a player’s membership for the following season, national golf writer Bob Harig reported Friday morning that McIlroy – who will fall short of the event minimum – will be exempt due to “extraordinary circumstances.”
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Those circumstances, on the surface, are – that he’s Rory McIlroy.
Which was the expected result from those around the game. A source told the Pioneer Press it was highly unlikely McIlroy – who’s never played in the 3M Open – would tee it up in Blaine. The Northern Ireland native traditionally stays in Europe for a few weeks following The Open before returning to the state’s for playoff competition. That again appears to be the case this year.
McIlroy’s schedule decreases each season as he ages and aims to find more work/life balance. He’s skipped multiple “Signature events” this year, including this week’s Traveler’s Championship. McIlroy was spotted at Royal Birkdale this week, practicing at the site of next month’s Open Championship. There’s nothing to prevent him from doing the same in the future.
Still, the 3M Open is in good shape with its field. It already has World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler committed to come to TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. This week, it was announced fellow top-50 players in the world – defending champion Kurt Kitayama (No. 33), Maverick McNealy (No. 36) and Jake Knapp (No. 44) – will be joining Scheffler in the field.
More are likely to trickle in in the weeks to come. The field isn’t finalized until the Friday leading up to the end-of-July event.
What fields look like for future editions of the event will depend on 3M’s willingness to financially support a larger purse. Starting in 2028, the PGA Tour will have two tiers – a Championship Series and a Challenger Series. The former will feature the top 130 players on Tour, who will compete in 23 to 24 events, all featuring $20 million purses.
A source this week said the PGA Tour would like the Twin Cities market to be included in the Championship Series, but that level of purse does then need to be included. If it is, future 3M Opens will become must-see events with most of the top names, and likely be played at a different point of the schedule.
But for this year and next, the state’s lone PGA Tour stop – which consistently comes the week following the men’s game’s final major – will continue to operate with fields featuring a few of the game’s truly elite players who enjoy the event in Blaine and higher-end names scrambling for late-season FedEx Cup points.
McIlroy will not be included in either group.