Rory McIlroy admits 'privileged' position after telling PGA Tour to brutally cut stars out

Rory McIlroy claims he is in a privileged position in golf (Image: Getty)

Rory Mcllroy has admitted he is in a 'privileged position' on the PGA Tour after the golfer's calls for changes to be made were answered.

The Northern Irishman recently made his stance clear that the Tour must be more "cut-throat" in allowing the best players to enter certain tournaments, thus increasing their prestige.

Speaking after the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the world No. 3 went against the general line that more players should take part than the current number of 69.

Instead, McIlroy suggested the tournament and Tour should be more exclusive as a whole, which speaks to his positive influence in men's golf.

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Even if his woes are sometimes even celebrated amongst some sections of golf, McIlroy, 35, is adamant that the hassle is worth putting up with if it means being a professional golfer.

"I think what the hard thing is in my position is your disappointments and your mistakes keep getting brought up to you every time that you get in front of a camera or you're in a press conference or answering questions," McIlroy said to Sky Sports.

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"That's the tough part of this gig. At the same time, I am in a very fortunate position that this is what I get to do for a living. If I have to deal with what people deem are unfair expectations or are held to a higher standard than others, then so be it.

The PGA Tour's Policy Board have introduced a raft of changes (Image: Getty)

"I feel like that's a very privileged position to be in. I'd much rather have it this way than if people didn't really care about what I was doing on the golf course."

Shortly after McIlroy's demands were made public, the PGA Tour Policy Board approved a number of drastic changes to be introduced.

Items set to be revised include smaller fields, fewer tour cards given out to those who want to compete on the circuit and fewer players fully exempt from losing their cards.

Rory McIlroy spoke out at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Image: Getty) SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

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It is fairly obvious that such changes have been made with the 34-year-old's recommendations in mind, even though the four-time major winner said his ideas wouldn't be the most popular.

Speaking in Bay Hill, McIlroy said: “I’m all for making it [the tour] more cut-throat, more competitive," he said.

"Probably won’t be very popular for saying this, but I’m all for less players and less Tour cards, and the best of the best.”

The PGA Tour have now approved such changes in time for 2026, including reducing the number of players who will keep their tour cards with fully exempt status from 125 to 100.

Rory McIlroy admits 'privileged' position after telling PGA Tour to brutally cut stars out

Rory McIlroy admits 'privileged' position after telling PGA Tour to brutally cut stars out

Rory McIlroy admits 'privileged' position after telling PGA Tour to brutally cut stars out

Rory McIlroy admits 'privileged' position after telling PGA Tour to brutally cut stars out

Rory McIlroy admits 'privileged' position after telling PGA Tour to brutally cut stars out