Rory McIlroy responds to Charley Hoffman’s letter: ‘Pointed at me a little’

It was mostly all good vibes at TGL Tuesday night, until the match ended and players held their obligatory media availability. That’s when Rory McIlroy was asked about Charley Hoffman’s critical letter. 

The letter was sent to PGA Tour members Sunday evening right as McIlroy was finishing off his victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and while Hoffman didn’t directly call out McIlroy by name, it’s clear he was miffed by how McIlroy sets up his playing schedule.

“Here’s something else to think about,” Hoffman wrote in the final part of his letter. “If we truly care about strengthening our Tour, we should be supporting as many PGA Tour events as we can. Many of you keep saying you want to play fewer events, yet you still find time for TGL, Race to Dubai, and other non-PGA Tour events, and that’s going to continue regardless of field size.”

The truth is, there aren’t “many” players who fill all the criteria he lists off. There may just be one. 

Among the 24 players who compete for TGL, roughly 10 actively participate in the Race to Dubai on the DP World Tour. Of that group, really only Rory McIlroy has been openly talking about wanting to play fewer events, but also playing in one-off non-Tour events. That implication made by Hoffman was felt by McIlroy in the past couple days. 

“I think the thing he forgot to mention is the PGA Tour owns 20 percent of TGL,” McIlroy began, “so he’s criticizing his own product. They also own a good chunk of European Tour Productions, so again — I thought some of the elements of the letter were fine, addressed some issues. He was criticizing the Aon Swing 5. He was sixth in that.”

It’s a very fair point. Hoffman’s letter was seven paragraphs long, but he used one of them to critique the Tour’s use of a specific alternate list to fill the Pebble Beach field to 80 players. Hoffman was just barely on the outside looking in, a fact McIlroy seized upon.

“He talks about having it be for the good of the Tour, but he’s also talking about himself, as well,” McIlroy said. “I thought a couple of [his thoughts] were pointed at me a little bit because TGL, Race to Dubai, non-PGA Tour events like the Showdown that Scottie and I did in December, I’ve been vocal about not wanting to play quite as much so it seemed like it was pointed at me.

“Look, what every player has to do is look out for themselves. We have to do what’s best for our own individual careers, and yes, at the back of our mind try to do whatever we can to help the Tour, but I think the best way for any of us to help the Tour is to tee it up and play as best we can.”

Over the past two weeks, that has meant a TGL to Pebble to TGL schedule for McIlroy. For Hoffman, it has meant Torrey Pines to week off to TPC Scottsdale for the WM Phoenix Open. Perhaps no two schedules could emphasize the differences in prerogatives in pro golf more exactly. But which of them is best for the growth of the PGA Tour? Which players can speak on what’s best for the Tour? 

Those questions have been roiling across social media for days, and are only bound to continue throughout the week.