Rory McIlroy said Monday that he would play one more time ahead of the Masters. It didn’t take long for the newly crowned PLAYERS champion to decide where that would be.

McIlroy committed to next week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, the tournament announced on social media Tuesday afternoon. It will be McIlroy’s debut at the event and Memorial Park Golf Course.

The timing of the start makes sense for McIlroy, who wrapped a whirlwind week at THE PLAYERS Championship on Monday after weather delays and a playoff pushed it one extra day, giving himself a week off.

McIlroy said in his winning press conference that he planned to play one of the two Texas events preceding the Masters – the Texas Children’s Houston Open or the Valero Texas Open, but wasn’t sure which. Based on past experience, Valero would have made sense. McIlroy played the event in 2022 and 2024 as a direct tune-up ahead of Augusta. He’s opting for a different plan this year, though. By playing in Houston, McIlroy will give himself a week’s rest before teeing it up at the Masters, the lone major he has not won.

McIlroy’s addition to the Texas Children’s Houston Open field means that the top two players in the world will tee it up against each other. Scottie Scheffler previously publicly committed to play in Houston, where he finished runner-up a year ago.