Rory McIlroy lashes back at critics of special Euro Tour treatment

Rory McIlroy, like Tiger Woods for so many years on the PGA Tour, is the marquee attraction across the Atlantic. So, if the struggling European Tour provides the four-time major winner with some extra R&R before this week’s defense of his Race to Dubai title in Dubai, that’s sort of okay with the guy in the best position to topple Rory from his perch.

McIlroy, you may recall, missed several events, including title defenses at Firestone and the British Open, after ripping up his ankle during a friendly game of soccer on July 4. And while the Euro Tour, in a last-gasp effort to survive against the deeper-pocketed US circuit, golfers will need to play just five of its events next year -- the requirement for membership in 2015 was 13.

Rory, who leads the R2D standings after appearing in only 12 matches, received special dispensation because of his injury and took full advantage by resting last week while his opponents competed in the BMW Masters in China. Danny Willett, second in race points entering this week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, almost made McIlroy’s star treatment a full-blown controversy. He tried to self-correct but not before handing Europe’s superstar some juicy bulletin board material.

“I appreciate that him playing makes a massive difference for the tour and you have to kind of let him off with the events,” Willett told reporters ahead of Thursday’s start. “But certainly, he has more of an advantage over the guys who have played all three, and this will be the fourth. There’s a lot of traveling, a lot of golf, time changes, sleeping patterns, everything like that can really take its toll. Especially at the end of a season. At the beginning of the season, maybe not, but this is the 52nd week of the season, and I think having had a week off might have benefited him.”

Willett did the math and it added up to his having played in some 22 events to Rory’s 12.

“There’s still rules there to kind of abide by,” he said. “Otherwise they wouldn’t make rules. If rules were allowed to be broken all the time, then there’s no point in setting them in the first place.”

Despite what he obviously perceived as an edge afforded the world’s third-ranked player, Willett acknowledged that making the tough determination was why new commish Keith Pelley earned the big bucks. And, with McIlroy the Euro version of Tiger, the Englishman begrudgingly conceded he deserved special treatment.

“It’s a very difficult one to kind of get correct, and it was the first decision Keith had to make in becoming the commissioner of the tour,” he said. “It’s a difficult one to have to make. I think he made the correct decision.”

McIlroy, for his part, had no sympathy for world-weary travelers like Willett and others who have not been quite so public with their complaints about the kid-glove treatment enjoyed by Rory.

“If I can win more money in 12 events than someone can win in 23, I don’t see any reason why -- I played half the events and won more money,” McIlroy said. “I know, obviously you play majors and you play World Golf Championships, but, you know, that’s the decision that the European Tour came to and obviously it’s great for me that I’m able to be here and compete this week.”

McIlroy came in sixth and 11th in Turkey and the HSBC Champions, respectively, in the two of the three Final Series tourneys he played. He’ll enter the fray in Dubai on the strength of a win in 2012 and four additional top-10 finishes.

The 26-year-old earlier this year stunned the golf world by saying the $10 million bonus that comes with winning the R2D-like FedEx Cup playoffs “doesn’t mean much … anymore.” On Wednesday, he told tourney organizers they could take their cash and, um, keep it.

“I’d gladly take the trophy and they can keep the money and do whatever they want with it,” McIlroy said. “It’s more about trying to win the Race to Dubai again.”