HOLYWOOD hotshot Rory McIlroy is scaling back his PGA Tour schedule this year.

The four-time major winner wants the tour’s overall number of tournaments to be reduced in the future.

The 36-year-old was speaking ahead of his debut event of the 2025 campaign at the $20m ‘Signature’ AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Six-time Race to Dubai winner reckons the PGA Tour has been diminished due to the number of events on the schedule.

He also believes the game is oversaturated for the consumer before calling for an NFL-style, shorter season.

He said in 2023 that he played too few events before upping his schedule last year.

The world number three could cut his season back to 20 events after after saying he played too many events in 2024.

He said: “I think it [the tour] already has been diminished.

“I think there’s space for all of this.

“Yeah, I can see when the golf consumer might get a little fatigued of everything that’s sort of available to them.

“So to scale it back a little bit and maybe have a little more scarcity in some of the stuff that we do, like the NFL, I think mightn’t be a bad thing.

“But look, I would much rather sit down and watch real golfers play real tournaments and that’s just my opinion.

“That to me is more entertaining. But I understand that other people want something different and that’s totally fine as well.”

The three-time FedEx Cup winner played 26 combined starts in 2024 on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour as he complained about playing too much last year.

He added: “I just played way too much last year.

“I want to be home more. I want to be a little more rested and fresh for bigger events.”

McIlroy’s first start of the American tour will coincide with the return of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth.

World number one Scheffler is returning from hand surgery after an accident on Christmas Day.

The FedEx Cup champion had small glass fragments removed from the palm, which postponed his planned season debut at the AMEX Championship.

While Jordan Spieth is returning after wrist surgery, the three-time major winner opted to take time out after missing last year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs to get the long-standing issue operated on.