Rory Mcilroy To Cut Back Tournament Schedule After 'Hitting Wall'

The Northern Irishman finished tied for ninth place in the Tour Championship in Atlanta last weekend, his 22nd event of the year.

McIlroy started the year strong, winning the Dubai Desert Classic before triumphing at the Wells Fargo Championship in May.

He also came close to ending his decade-long wait for a major title, but agonisingly missed out to Bryson DeChambeau by one shot at the U.S. Open after a late collapse, prompting him to take a short break.

"It's been a long season, and I'm going to just have to think about trying to build in a few extra breaks here and there next year and going forward because I felt like I hit a bit of a wall sort of post-U.S. Open, and still feel a little bit of that hangover," said McIlroy.

"My season is not over, obviously. I've still got five events left to play," he said.

"But yeah, I feel like the tournaments came thick and fast, and obviously, with the Olympics thrown in there, as well, this year, it sort of condensed everything a bit."

Since the U.S. Open, McIlroy has struggled to show his early-season form, missing the cut at The Open Championship and finishing fifth at the Paris Olympics while representing Team Ireland.

The 35-year-old still has five tournaments left this year, including next week's Irish Open at Royal County Down.

Asked how many tournaments is too many in one year, McIlroy replied: "27. I'm usually sort of like a 22 sort of person. But again, that was when I was sort of in my 20s and didn't have the responsibilities that I do now.

"I'm going to try to cut it back to like 18 or 20 a year going forward, I think."