McIlroy eyes return to PGA Tour

Looks like Rory McIlroy wasn’t kidding when he said he hated links golf. The U.S. Open winner told reporters Wednesday he was at ease playing golf in the states and may take up residence as a neighbor of Tiger Woods as well.

"I'm leaning towards taking my card up again definitely," McIlroy said in a press conference on the eve of this week’s Bridgestone Invitational. "I feel as if I play my best golf over here. I'm very comfortable in this country....I’m definitely looking towards coming back and playing a full schedule over here."

McIlroy’s latest comments represent an about-face for the 22-year-old who romped to an eight-stroke Open victory at Congressional Country Club in June. Even the FedEx Cup schedule, which McIlroy cited as one reason for quitting the PGA last year to focus on the European Tour, did not appear to be a deterrent to the young man from Holywood.

That may come as a surprise to Mcilroy's agent Chubby Chandler. As recently as June of this year, Chandler told the Irish Times his client would not retake his PGA Tour card because of the FedEx Cup, a series of four events that begins with The Barclays in August and ends with the Tour Championship in late September.

Yet McIlroy, who hails from Northern Ireland but made it clear after a T25 finish at the British Open in July that he could do without the hail and other nasty weather common to links golf in the U.K., suggested he would gladly exchange foul playing conditions for the inconvenience of the FedEx Cup events.

"I’m not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather. It’s not my sort of golf," he said after his final round of the Open Championship. "Looking forward to getting back and playing in Akron [at this week’s Bridgestone Invitational], playing the PGA and getting back into some nice conditions."

He reiterated his dislike for the British elements on Wednesday. "Probably the Open," he said about why he considered reapplying for his PGA Tour card. "The weather.

U.S. Open winner Rory McIlroy is leaning toward rejoining the PGA Tour in 2012 (Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

"I just thought about it," he explained. "I feel as if my game really suits playing courses over here. Most of my favorite events seem to be on this side of the pond. And my game suits it over here. I'm very comfortable over here."

Even with the dratted FedEx Cup, it would seem.

"The only thing about the FedEx was that you only got a week off after the PGA [Championship] and then straight back into four weeks out of five that were pretty tough," he said. "It's hard to keep it going for that length of time. But yeah, it's something that you just have to accept."

A change in McIlroy’s personal status also played a role in his thinking. When he quit the U.S. association in 2010, he and long-time girlfriend, Holly Sweeney, shared a house and two dogs. The childhood sweethearts then broke up, which led us to wonder then if McIlroy would reconsider his decision to play in the states. McIlroy subsequently pleaded with Sweeney to take him back, only to part again and take up with tennis star, Caroline Wozniacki.

The shifting circumstances of his love life "definitely" factored into his change of heart about leaving the European circuit for the one on this side of the Atlantic.

As for a possible change of address, McIlroy may settle down in the Sunshine State. "I'm going to look at a few houses down in Florida after the PGA," he said, listing Lake Nona, West Palm Beach and Jupiter, the site of Tiger’s new mega-million bachelor’s pad in Jupiter as possible landing areas.

Should McIlroy decide to rejoin the PGA Tour in 2012, by the way, the suits in Ponte Vedra would welcome him back with open arms.

"If it works out that he's rejoining the PGA Tour, obviously we're ecstatic about that," tour official Andy Pazdar told USA Today.

McIlroy may apply for 2012 membership up to 30 days following the last official event, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in October, Pazdar said.