Why PGA Tour Players Are No Longer Fined For Skipping Signature Events

Rory McIlroy has enjoyed a stellar start to his 2025, claiming the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Players Championship and The Masters, completing the Career Grand Slam in the process.

All of this success comes with the adage that McIlroy has done this despite missing some significant tournaments, something that, 48 months ago, would have cost him a large amount of money.

Infamously, back in 2023, McIlroy was fined around $3 million after he opted to skip The Sentry and the RBC Heritage, which are both Signature Events on the PGA Tour.

At the time, the rules were that players couldn't skip more than one Signature Event or they would have to return 25% of their Player Impact Program bonus.

The PIP, which ended in 2024, was designed to reward players that had the largest impact on the PGA Tour business and, given McIlroy's stature in the game, he finished second in 2022, claiming $12 million. However, after missing two Signature Events the next season, he forfeited a reported $3 million of that money.

For 2025, though, McIlroy will not have to worry about being fined for missing Signature Events, despite missing three of them this season.

Opting once again not to play the season-opening event, The Sentry, McIlroy then didn't play the RBC Heritage following his historic Masters win that put him among just a handful of players to complete the Career Grand Slam.

At the start of the season, McIlroy explained that he wanted to limit his schedule to help him perform better in the Majors and, when the Memorial Tournament field, the seventh Signature Event, was revealed, McIlroy was not listed again.

This led many wondering and asking whether he would be fined for not appearing. Put simply, he won't be punished, due to the fact that the rule on skipping more than one Signature Event has been dropped by the PGA Tour.

Currently, McIlroy is set to play the RBC Canadian Open the week after the Memorial Tournament, before teeing it up at the US Open and, potentially, the Travelers Championship.

Like McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler also chose to skip the Signature Event of the Truist Championship at the start of May, with it taking place the week before the PGA Championship.