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Rory McIlroy has admitted stepping back from the sport's political minefield has boosted his game both on and off the course. During the height of the chaos triggered by LIV Golf's arrival, he became the unofficial spokesman for the PGA Tour , fielding questions about the drama at tournaments whilst juggling negotiations as a member of the Tour's policy board. McIlroy has embraced a more hands-off stance since stepping down from the board two years ago, securing seven wins including a career-defining Masters victory earlier this year that sealed his Grand Slam collection. "From a golfing perspective, stepping away from the politics and being intimately involved, it's definitely made me happier from a golfing perspective," he said. "When I was on the board, I was clued in, I talked to people, I got different opinions but at the same time I felt like it was taking away from some of the other things I want to do in my life. "You can't keep all the plates spinning at the same time and something had to give. If you look at my golf since then, it's been a pretty good run. "I have a clear head and I'm out of all the political stuff in golf, basically, and I can just focus on playing and making myself competitively happy by playing in the tournaments that I want to play. "And having more time to make myself personally happy doing things I want to do away from golf, travelling with my family and showing my daughter different parts of the world , is a very nice place to be in life." McIlroy is chasing his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai title this week and a seventh Order of Merit overall, which would surpass Seve Ballesteros and leave him just one behind Colin Montgomerie . Marco Penge and Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton are the only two players who can stop him at the DP World Tour Championship. Despite being based in the United States, McIlroy has maintained strong ties with the DP World Tour he still considers as 'home' and he encouraged other players to "step up" their commitment. "With the fractured state of men's professional golf right at the minute, this tour needs all its stars to step up and play in the big events," added McIlroy, who has had a new award - for which he is ineligible - named in his honour to celebrate his Grand Slam success which will reward the best performance by a European player over the course of the year's four majors. "I feel quite a responsibility to do that and to try to make this tour as strong as it can possibly be. " Tommy Fleetwood, another one of those stars, has defended himself against accusations of gamesmanship last week." The Southport golfer faced criticism from television pundits after keeping fellow Englishman and eventual champion Aaron Rai waiting on the tee during their play-off at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. "I feel like it's disappointing," he said. "I would hope everybody knows that I wouldn't do anything like that and I think the world of Aaron as well. We walked off the 18th and I was desperate to go to the toilet...I ran to the toilet; ran to the tee." DP World have pledged to extend their title sponsorship of the tour until 2035.
