Rory McIlroy -- Scaling back number of events may aid PGA Tour - ESPN

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — After an early-morning cross-country flight following his TGL debut in Florida on Monday night, Rory McIlroy arrived at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Tuesday ahead of the PGA Tour's second signature event of the season.

McIlroy has yet to play stateside this year, but the talk surrounding him Tuesday wasn't about the state of his game but rather about the state of golf as an entertainment product.

«When we're growing up dreaming of [being] professional golfers and trying to get the best out of ourselves, the last thing on our mind is being an entertainer,» McIlroy said. «I really like the way golf is, and I think a lot of other people do, too, but I still understand the critiques of how the entertainment product could get better.»

McIlroy acknowledged that the splintering of the game — between PGA Tour events, TGL, LIV (which kicks off its season in Saudi Arabia next week) and the recent rise in popularity for content creator-driven YouTube golf — also might be leading to an oversaturation of the game. TV ratings for PGA Tour events, for example, have seen drops this season.

«I think there's space for all of this,» McIlroy said. «But I can see when the golf consumer might get a little fatigued.»

In response to concern about other forms of the sport taking away from the PGA Tour, McIlroy said he believes the tour's product already has been diminished in recent years and that the number of events on the schedule has not helped.

«I think 47 or 50 tournaments a year is definitely too many,» he said. «To scale it back and have a little more scarcity, like the NFL, might not be a bad thing.»

The four-time major winner said Tuesday he likely will play fewer events this season while meeting the minimum