Rory McIlroy didn't mind the quick turnaround from his debut TGL match to his first start of the 2025 PGA Tour season.
McIlroy's Boston Common GC appeared on the TGL stage for the first time on Monday in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he went head-to-head with Tiger Woods. After Woods' Jupiter Links nipped Boston in overtime, McIlroy said he left the arena about 9:30pm and was in bed by 10.
The early flight to California for this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was barely a concern – at least he was flying west.
"Woke up this morning at 5:00, took off at 7:00, landed here at 9:30 and here I am," McIlroy said as he spoke to reporters on Tuesday ahead of this week's signature event in Pebble Beach, California.
Last time Rory McIlroy offered advice to Scottie Scheffler, it was the mallet putter.
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) January 28, 2025
Today, he suggest a chef! 🧑🍳 pic.twitter.com/WSab0Oyod6
Not only does McIlroy have his first TGL experience under his belt, but he also began his season with a T4 finish at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, an event where he's had consistent success. This week will be his first PGA Tour start since the Tour Championship in August.
While some who've interviewed McIlroy in Europe this winter have framed 2025 as a pivotal year for the four-time major champion, McIlroy was asked point-blank if he feels it will be a pivotal season.
🚨⛳️🏆 #MAJOR INTENSITY — Rory McIlroy says Tiger Woods’ compete level during TGL matches is equal to what he sees from him at majors: “…It's amazing to go up and to compete against one of your heroes. I've shared the course with him many times, and I've been in a couple of… pic.twitter.com/2tjP1QKbfD
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) January 28, 2025
"I think every year's a pivotal year. Every year's important," he said. "I think there's a couple of things this year that make it maybe a little more so for me.
"The Open (Championship) goes back to Portrush, so playing a major championship pretty much at home is a big thing. Then playing an away Ryder Cup for me, I've alluded to this a lot, but I feel like winning an away Ryder Cup is one of the toughest things to do in golf at the minute. Obviously, the Europeans have an opportunity to do that, which would be really cool."
McIlroy's major championship drought hit 10 years after he came up empty in 2024, the nearest miss being his second-place finish to Bryson DeChambeau at the US Open after he was leading on the back nine on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman will get to play the Open in his native land for the second time (he missed the cut at Portrush in 2019), and the PGA Championship in May will be held at Quail Hollow, where he's won the Wells Fargo Championship four times.
When major season is over, McIlroy is sure to be one of the 12 players suiting up for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
"I think the big thing in an away Ryder Cup is not to let the home team get off to an early lead... if you do fall behind as the away team, it's very, very difficult to come back," McIlroy said.
The year 2025 may be pivotal for McIlroy, 35, in other ways. He and Woods co-founded the TGL with sports TV executive Mike McCarley, and Monday marked the league's fourth and most entertaining match.
It is beginning to fit into the greater landscape of the golf and entertainment worlds, and McIlroy is not concerned that golf fans' attention is being divided too much.
Asked if LIV, YouTube golf influencers and now TGL competing for eyeballs could diminish the PGA Tour product, McIlroy retorted, "I think it already has been. You know, I think it already has been diminished.
"Look, the one thing about like – TGL's only going to last two months," he said. "You get this sort of big burst of it in January, February and a little bit of March, then it's done. It's gone for 10 months basically. I would say that is hopefully somewhat additive to the ecosystem.
"YouTube is like golf entertainment adjacent, whatever. Those guys are killing it. They found a niche and it's really cool and it serves a purpose for a lot of people. But look, I would much rather sit down and watch real golfers play real tournaments and that's just my opinion. That to me is more entertaining. But I understand that other people want something different and that's totally fine as well."
He went on to say it may benefit the PGA Tour to "scale it back a little bit" and operate with some more scarcity, saying: "I think 47 or 50 tournaments a year is definitely too many." The PGA Tour will have 46 official events in 2025, but that counts the alternate events and FedEx Cup Fall series that present opportunities for rank-and-file tour players to keep their cards.
This will mark McIlroy's third career start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He missed the cut in 2018 and tied for 66th at last year's weather-shortened event, though he and partner Jeff Rhodes won the pro-am competition. McIlroy said the tournament's status as a signature event wasn't the only reason he returned to play it again.
"I've got a partner in Jeff Rhodes that I've developed a really good relationship with, so that is one part of it," he said. "Then yeah, the format is a help. The pace of play should be a little bit faster because there's not as many guys in the field. You're going from three courses to two courses, which I think helps a little bit as well, and it is a beautiful part of the world to spend a week."
The tournament previously utilised Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club, but Monterey Peninsula was eliminated after 2023.