From Signing Over 1,000 Masters Flags To His 2026 Plans - What Rory McIlroy Said Ahead Of The Tour Championship

Rory McIlroy makes his final PGA Tour start of the year with the Northern Irishman among the favorites to lift the FedEx Cup title.

McIlroy is the only three-time champion in the FedEx Cup's short history and has the same chance as all other 29 men this week with the controversial starting strokes format removed for 2025.

The Masters champion addressed the media at East Lake ahead of the PGA Tour finale getting underway, which will mark his penultimate US appearance of 2025 prior to the Ryder Cup at the end of next month.

As well as the format changes, the World No.2 also touched on his 2026 plans after the new 2026 PGA Tour schedule was released, his thoughts on PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and just how many Masters flags he signed after Augusta...

Tour Championship format

McIlroy admitted he was in the "minority" of not hating the starting strokes format, while he also explained why match play did not prevail as the format for the season finale.

"I'm maybe part of the minority. I didn't hate the starting strokes. I thought that the player that played the best during the course of the season should have had an advantage coming in here," he said.

"But the majority of people just didn't like the starting strokes. Whether it were players or fans - I was on the PAC when we were trying to go through that, and really it was just a way to try to simplify the advantage that the top players were going to get over the course of the week instead of Steve Sands doing calculations on a white board.

"But you could also argue if it was starting strokes this week, Scottie with a two-shot lead, it probably isn't enough considering what he's done this year and the lead that he has in the FedExCup going into this week.

"Look, there was a lot of other stuff on the table. Match play was on the table, and that got canned for this year.

"That might be brought back up in the conversation for next year or the year after. I think it's just hard for the players to reconcile that we play stroke play for every week of the year but then the season-ending tournament is going to be decided by match play.

"I think it was just hard for the players to get their heads around that. I don't know, maybe that will be on the table again, who knows.

"Yeah, look, it's a 72-hole stroke-play event, and that's what we play week in and week out. That's what's going to determine the winner.

"I don't know if it's the best format, but it's the one that we have for this week."

On his 2026 schedule

McIlroy has skipped three of the big $20m Signature Events this year - The Sentry, RBC Heritage and The Memorial Tournament - as well as the FedEx St Jude Championship, the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

He says he hasn't figured out his 2026 plans just yet but don't expect him to play in all nine Signature Events.

"I'll always look at the schedule at the start of the year and see what best fits me and my life and everything else that I sort of do, whether it's with family or other opportunities that I'm pursuing outside of golf," he said.

"I'll always look at that. I'll always choose the schedule that best fits me, and this year that meant skipping a few Signature Events. I might skip less next year. I might skip the same amount, I don't know.

"The luxury of being a PGA Tour player is we are free to pick and choose our schedule for the most part, and I took advantage of that this year and I'll continue to take advantage of that for as long as I can."

The new 2026 PGA Tour schedule looks to be a packed one for the top players, featuring a bumper spring set to include nine Signature Events, three Majors and The Players all before the end of June - plus TGL from January to March.

McIlroy admitted that it will be a busy time for players.

"I think it's all positive when you have - golf builds through the January, February, March months, and obviously golf gets a huge popularity spike or whatever through Augusta; and then to try to keep that momentum going, keep that momentum going through the next few weeks, through the PGA, US Open, I think it's a good thing," he said.

"It's quite a bit of a workload for the players to play that much golf in that stretch, but I think it's not as if we're having to travel halfway around the world to do it.

"These are all pretty easy stops on the East Coast for the most part.

"But I think it'll be good. It'll be a good schedule, and I think if the Tour and the top players get off to a good start, I think that builds momentum for the Tour, and I think the Tour can just sort of ride that momentum through that stretch."

Masters flags and his Augusta plans

How many Masters flags has he signed since winning the Green Jacket?

"A lot," he said with a smile.

"Actually, I have no idea. It's been a lot. But I do know that they had 1,100 extra - like 1,100 left in the merchandise facility at the end of the week, and we took all 1,100.

"But it's been a lot. But I'll never get sick of signing them. I've waited 17 years to sign that flag in the middle, and I will never complain about doing it."

Masters champions famously only sign in the middle of The Masters logo on the iconic yellow pin flags, with non-champions signing anywhere else.

Had he ever previously signed in the middle?

"No. No."

McIlroy also revealed he has a couple of trips to Augusta National planned including one with his dad, who wasn't there in April this year to see him finally win.

"Yeah, I've already planned a couple of trips with some friends or some members beforehand," he said.

"It'll probably be a little emotional. I definitely have planned one trip that my dad is going to come on as well, and my dad wasn't there when I won, so I think that'll be a cool moment to be with him.

"Yeah, it'll be emotional. Like I still get a little emotional thinking about it. But it'll be really cool to go there.

"I have a lot of members there that have become good friends over the years, and to be able to enjoy that with them and play the golf course again and sort of reminisce over the good and the bad that happened over the course of the week, yeah, that'll be really cool.

"It's a beautiful place to play golf. If you stop to actually look around and look at the plants and look at the trees and hear the birds, it's a beautiful place to spend your day and to spend your night and go down to the wine cellar and pick a bottle of wine.

"It's one of the coolest experiences you can have in golf. I've always said some of my favorite times at Augusta were when it wasn't the Masters Tournament, but it'll be lovely to next time go there and go up to the champions locker room and put on my green jacket and feel like I belong."

Brian Rolapp

Brian Rolapp officially took over from Jay Monahan as the PGA Tour chief this summer and McIlroy revealed he only recently met the new CEO.

His first impressions sounded good.

"So I hadn't met him up until last week, and I was able to spend a good 90 minutes with him just talking through everything to do with the Tour and the whole thing over the past three or four years and what the future looks like," he said.

"I like him. I like him a lot. I like that he doesn't come from golf.

"I like that he doesn't have any preconceived ideas of what golf should look like or what the Tour should look like.

"I think he's going to bring a fresh perspective to everything, and I think he wants to move pretty quick, so I'm excited."

How much has he worn his Green Jacket?

McIlroy admitted he has been surprised by how little he has worn the iconic Green Jacket this year.

He has made public appearances on The Tonight Show and at the Association of Golf Writers' dinner at The Open but it has largely stayed in his wardrobe.

"I don't think I took it off until I went to bed, so I had it on maybe until 3:30 in the morning or something," he said of his first night with the garment.

"It's one of those things that - I woke up at 7am, slept for three hours, I woke up and it's one of those moments where it's like, did that actually happen, and you wake up and you see the green jacket lying over a chair in the bedroom and you think, yeah, that did happen yesterday.

"I'm reluctant to wear it. It's not as if I wear it a lot. I have it hanging in my wardrobe in a place where I can see it every day, but I don't know, I always thought if I did win the Masters one day, I'd never have the thing off, and it hasn't been that way.

"I haven't worn it as much as I thought I would.

"I went to the golf writers awards in Portrush, and I wore it that night, which was pretty cool. You also have to get permission every time you wear it, so there's a lot of dos and don'ts around it as well."