Rory McIlroy has confirmed that he'll play next year's Dubai Duty-Free Irish Open and that he'll again be focusing on the PGA Tour in 2020.
The four-time major winner says the tournament will be his only one in Europe before the Open next summer.
"This year I definitely realised how travel affects me, and not just crossing time zones, but the effect that has on you not just the first week but the few weeks after that," McIlroy said ahead of this week's Zozo Championship in Japan.
"I definitely haven’t traveled as much this year as I have done in the past, especially bouncing back and forth across the Atlantic. That’s something I’m going to replicate going forward.
"I’ll start my season in the US. I’m going to play the Irish Open next year, which is probably the end of May. I’ll go back for that, but that’s the only scenario where I’ll go back until before the Open championship."
McIlroy has also been responding to Brooks Koepka's claim that he doesn't view the Down man as a rival:
“I would never want to make it just about two players. I think that’s a little disrespectful of all the other players that are trying to play well and trying to win tournaments. I think for it just to be made about two people when parity in golf is something that is quite real, five people could put their hand up and say they’re the best player in the world right now.”
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