The PGA Tour signature events, which includes the May 28 to June 1 Memorial Tournament, were supposed to be bigger-money events so enticing that the game’s best players would enter without hesitation.
Not so fast. Rory McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the world and having just completed the career grand slam at the Masters, chose to bypass the Memorial this week. Instead, he is committed to the June 5-8 Canadian Open, an event he has won twice. McIlroy also skipped two other signature events: The Sentry and Heritage.
McIlroy’s Memorial skip comes two weeks after world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler bypassed the signature Truist Championship to rest up for the PGA Championship, which turned out to be a smart decision when he won the second major of the season May 18.
What makes McIlroy’s decision to pass on the Memorial stand out is his strong relationship with tournament host and founder, Jack Nicklaus, and also because last year McIlroy praised the Memorial as an event that deserved to stand alone, not serve as a lead in to the U.S. Open.
“This is a huge tournament, with the host being arguably the greatest player ever to play the game, so it needs to stand on its own a little bit,” McIlroy said during the 2024 Memorial.
The PGA Tour moved the Memorial a week later into June last year, one week before the U.S. Open, but this year moved it back to its traditional spot two weeks before America’s national championship.
McIlroy said before the season he planned to scale back his schedule, and that was before he won the Masters, traveled to his native Northern Ireland and went on a U.S. media tour with his green jacket. He also made news at the PGA Championship two weeks ago when his driver was deemed non-conforming and he took some heat for declining media interviews after all four rounds of the major.
Maybe he’s just tired? Or maybe playing for a $4 million winner’s share of the $20 million Memorial purse doesn’t move the monetary needle like it once did. Still, with his close connection to Nicklaus and his strong, if not spectacular, record at Muirfield Village (five top 10s since 2010), it feels like something of an odd decision.
Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at@rollerCD. Read his columns from the Buckeyes’ national championship season in “Scarlet Reign,” a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Dispatch. Details at OhioState.Champs.com
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