Wednesday 27 September 2017 16:02, UK
Rory McIlroy has admitted that qualifying for next year's Ryder Cup without controversy was a motivating factor in his decision to play in this week's British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
McIlroy agreed to tee up at Close House after failing to qualify for last week's Tour Championship, and his return to European Tour action means he will fulfill his criteria for playing the minimum number of events.
The world No 6 was keen to avoid putting the Tour in a "sticky position" similar to that of 2015, when he was given special permission to remain in the Race to Dubai despite being one event short of the specified minimum requirement.
McIlroy is also playing in next week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship before he takes an extended break over the winter to work on both his fitness and his game as he nears the end of a disappointing 2017.
"I want to play Ryder Cup next year, so obviously I've got to play my five events in Europe. So that was a big decision into that," McIlroy said at his pre-tournament press conference.
"Obviously there are minimums and stuff like that, and I've sort of been quite close to the edge on minimums and stuff the last few years. So I didn't really want to put The European Tour in another sticky position.
"So I thought, yeah, I'll play an extra one and not have to make them make the hard decision and have to answer to the membership about why I didn't play the minimum when I could have and all that sort of stuff."
McIlroy also insisted he did not have to "answer to the membership" over his controversial comments last week, when he declared that the PGA Tour should buy the European Tour and create a "World Tour".
"The World Tour is going to happen one day, and I think it has to," McIlroy told a podcast produced by No Laying Up. "To have all these tours competing against each other, and having to change dates, it's counter-productive. I think everyone has to come together.
"The easy thing would be for the PGA Tour to buy the European Tour, and take it from there."
When asked about the comments at Close House, he said: "Look, that was a very general remark. I wasn't saying it was going to happen next year, in five years or even 10 years' time, but I think at some point, something may happen.
"But it was sort of just thinking out loud and seeing where this game was going; if I was to try to see 10 years into the future, where would the game be.
"I just think with where golf is, and how the world is so much smaller now, I don't see why there shouldn't be events in Europe and why there shouldn't be events in the States, but for everyone to maybe try to work together a little bit more.
"Maybe still having two separate entities, that's totally fine. Because at the end of the day, The European Tour has to do what's right for them, the PGA TOUR has to do what's right for them and they have to do what's right for their members, and you have to give everyone playing opportunities on both sides of the world.
"I don't know how it would work. It was just me throwing an idea out there and me throwing a thought out there. It's not something I would like, there's so many moving parts to it and it's so complicated; but maybe one day, that's all I was really saying."
