Will Rory McIlroy don his Santa Claus outfit and deliver the European Tour the gift it desperately desires.

That is the question heading into Festive Season as the golf world wonders whether Rory McIlroy sticks to his guns not to rejoin the European Tour in 2019.

A number of news outlets, including the latest being the London-based Mirror, are reporting European Tour CEO Keith Pelley flew recently to Belfast to have ‘crisis’ talks with McIlroy.

The four-time Major winning McIlroy shocked most last month at the DP World Tour Championship in revealing he was contemplating not renewing his European Tour membership for the New Year.

McIlroy indicated it would be a move to focus more on winning Majors and suggesting he plays best in the Majors when he competes the week before.  The news clearly ruffled the likes of 2019 Irish Open host Paul Ginley as as well as Irish fans across the country at the suggestion McIlroy would skip his own national Open and instead sit-out that week to tee-up in the following week’s Scottish Open.

Keith Pelley says if Rory McIlroy does not rejoin the 2019 European Tour then under the Ryder Cup captaincy rules he can never become a future Ryder Cup Captain (Photo – European Tour)

The news sent shockwaves all the way from Dubai to Lahinch.

As McGinley rightfully pointed out, and as Pelley explained to www.golfbytourmiss.com last fortnight in the Bahamas when Pelley competed in the Hero World Challenge Pro-Am and what McIlroy is seemingly not aware of, is the fact that if McIlroy does not rejoin the European Tour he will be ineligible under the current rules from ‘ever’ being a European Ryder Cup Captain.

“There is Ryder Cup captaincy implications should he (McIlroy) not take-up European Tour membership even though he’s not thinking of Ryder Cup captaincy in the very near future,” said Pelley when I spoke to him in the Bahamas.

And when Pelley was quizzed if McIlroy should not take-up membership would that ruin the honour in years to come of being a European Captain.

Pelley answered:  “Well, that’s what the rules state right now”.

The likes of Colin Montgomerie and Justin Rose have backed McIlroy’s move not to rejoin the European Tour declaring McIlroy should focus on his career and go out and strive to win more Majors.  In a nutshell they were saying McIlroy  forget about European Tour membership.

But take a step backwards for a second. What are we talking about here?

The changes introduced in September last year to Ryder Cup qualification stated the European Tour now only required players to compete in four European Tour-specific events to maintain status, not counting the majors and World Golf Championships.

How difficult can that be?

Forget suggestions recently in a national US weekly golf magazine McIlroy owes the European Tour nothing as that’s nothing but pure poppycock!

Since moving to the PGA Tour full-time in 2011 McIlroy’s won Majors and also had no trouble playing four ‘regular’ European Tour events:-

2011 – Won US Open – Contested 10 ‘regular’ European Tour events

2012 – Won PGA Championship – Played in 6 ‘regular’ European Tour events

2013 – No Majors – Played in 6 ‘regular European Tour events

2014 – Won The Open, WGC – Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship in three events running – Played in 7 ‘regular’ European Tour events

2015 – Won WGC – Cadillac Championship – Played in 6 ‘regular’ European Tour events

2016 – Finished 4th WGC – Dell Match-Play & T5th The Open – Played in 5  ‘regular’ European Tour events

2017 – Finished 4th The Open, 5th PGA Championship – Played in 5 ‘regular’ European Tour events

2018 – Joint runner-up The Open, T5th in the Masters – Played in 6 ‘regular’ European Tour events.

Bizarrely, with McIlroy not to compete in the Middle East for a first time in his career and also suggesting is not going to contest the Irish Open, he will still play four ‘regular’ European Tour events in 2019 given he confirmed he is appeasing sponsor Omega by contesting the Omega European Masters.

So McIlroy will be contesting the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the Omega European Masters.

He only has to then contest two of the following either the BMW PGA Championship, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship or the Nedbank Challenge.  And if he does rejoin the Tour McIlroy more-than-likely will qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

And while he is not likely to be considered a potential European Ryder Cup Captain to at least 2034 or 2036 why spoil that dream in 2019.