Rory McIlroy fears golf could lose one of its oldest traditions if PGA sanction major change

Rory McIlroy has voiced concerns that golf could lose one of its longest-standing traditions if the PGA Tour allow a significant regulation change to pass through.

McIlroy is currently preparing to take part in The Open Championship, the fourth and final major on the golfing calendar for 2026.

It is taking place at Royal Birkdale, Southport - a course the Northern Irishman enjoyed when he last played there in 2017.

McIlroy finished in a tie for fourth place after carding a final round score of 67, though he did finish seven shots behind overall winner Jordan Spieth.

His final tournament before the 2026 edition will see him taking part in the Genesis Scottish Open, an event which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

High-ranked players from both tours are therefore eligible to play at the North Berwick course.

The event is set to be affected by the PGA's plan to bring in a two-tier format to professional golf from 2028, which would see schedules split in two.

A Championship schedule, featuring the top stars on the PGA Tour such as McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, would be ran alongside a Challenger schedule.

Challenger players would not be able to feature in Championship events unless they either earned promotion at the end of the season, or won two events in the same season to gain immediate promotion.

'These need to be treated differently' - McIlroy voices Scottish Open worry

The Scottish Open is set to be classified as a Challenger event, meaning McIlroy might be making his penultimate attempt at winning the event - for the foreseeable future - this year if the plans go through.

And he has urged the PGA to prevent national golf opens such as the Scottish Open from 'losing the fabric of what they are'.

"I think, since this event has been co-sanctioned, it really has gone from strength-to-strength," two-time reigning Masters champion McIlroy told reporters on Tuesday.

"You look at the quality of the field this week, you get a great sponsor like Genesis on board - they have kept making improvements to the golf course and the facilities each and every year."

"I don't know how that fits into the Track 1 and Track 2 and all that stuff," he continued. "But I see this event, and I see how well it's done over these past few years, and I definitely feel like it's the blueprint for a lot of the national opens.

"We've got to be careful with that because then these national opens lose the fabric of what they are. You can't call yourself a national open any more if it's a closed-off tournament and there's a certain number of guys.

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"These events need to be treated differently than the Travelers Championship, or RBC Heritage, or whatever else is going to be in the Championship series."

Who has qualified for The Open Championship?

A total of 156 players will contest the 154th staging of The Open Championship, which gets underway on July 19.

They include the top 10 finishers from last year's Open, the top 50 golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings, and the top 25 in the current Race to Dubai standings.

In addition, every past Open champion before 2024, who is aged 60 years or under, is eligible to compete if they choose, as well as any champions aged 55 or under from 2024 onwards.

Both Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington, who now play regularly in PGA Tour Champions events, are among those to have signed up to compete via the former criteria, though several other previous champions - including John Daly, Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson and Tiger Woods - have chosen not to compete at Royal Birkdale.