Rory McIlroy has laser eye surgery

The four-time major winner posted a picture onto Instagram of himself post-surgery.

Rory McIlroy has taken to Instagram to reveal he has undergone laser eye surgery ahead of a busy schedule in 2016.

The Northern Irishman posted a picture of himself in bed wearing protective goggles taped to his face. Alongside the photo, he wrote: "Human version of the dreaded K-9 cone...Only for sleeping though! Laser eye surgery went well yesterday."

McIlroy, who won the European Tour's Race to Dubai last month, seems to be making the most of his time away from the course ahead of the next 12 months, which will include an Olympic Games appearance.

A seemingly busy schedule will also see him represent Europe in the Ryder Cup team that takes on the United States at Hazeltine.

No further details surrounding the surgery have emerged, however, according to the Daily Mail, it is believed that McIlroy has worn contact lenses in recent years having needed glasses since he was10 years old.

It's not known when McIlroy will start competing next year, although he did play the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January last year before starting his PGA Tour season in March.

The four-time major winner managed to win a third Race to Dubai title before his eye surgery after finishing top of the leaderboard at the DP World Tour Championship.

He was forced to condede the defence of his Open Championship title earlier this year after rupturing ankle ligaments playing football.

Tiger Woods also had eye surgery for the first time in 1999, although it's not known whether McIlroy underwent a similar procedure to the 18-time major winner.

If McIlroy is hoping to improve his stats from last season, he will do well to better his performance in Greens In Regulation on the European Tour. He sits top with 80.9%, around two per cent better than third placed Justin Rose. His Stroke Average is 69.28 on the European Tour, with Average Putts Per Round of 29.92.