Rory McIlroy To Skip Memorial Tournament For First Time In Eight Years

For the first time since 2017 Rory McIlroy will not be teeing it up at The Memorial Tournament.

New Masters champion McIlroy is the biggest name not confirmed for Jack Nicklaus' Signature Event on the PGA Tour - which is held at Muirfield Village from May 29-June 1.

The Memorial is not listed on his official website as being part of McIlroy's upcoming 2025 schedule, with the RBC Canadian Open from June 5-8 down as his next tournament. It was confirmed he is not teeing it up in Ohio following the official field announcement on Friday evening.

Being one of the PGA Tour's Signature Events, a stellar field is lined up and McIlroy seemed likely to play - as he's appeared in The Memorial for the last seven consecutive years.

McIlroy said at the start of the season he wanted to limit his schedule to help him perform better in the Majors, and since he's playing in the Canadian Open the week before the US Open he might not have wanted to play back-to-back events before tackling Oakmont.

The timing will attract attention though as it means he still won't be facing the media after his no-show for all four days of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

And it means any questions about his non-conforming driver, which should be a non-story but has grown legs thanks to his media silence, will only get bigger by the time he shows up in Canada.

As for The Memorial, World No.1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler will tee it up fresh off his PGA Championship victory, while 2023 Memorial winner Viktor Hovland also plays.

Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Tony Finau have committed to playing, along with Ludvig Aberg who finished T5 on his Memorial debut last year.

It will be the third Signature Event McIlroy has missed this season out of seven - having skipped the opener at The Sentry and also the RBC Heritage, which was understandable as that was held the week after he won The Masters.

The Memorial was played the week before the US Open last year, with many players suggesting that was not the best given it resulted in two huge, tough events being played back-to-back.

McIlroy played the Canadian Open, The Memorial and the US Open in consecutive weeks, culminating in that heartbreaking loss at Pinehurst No.2.

A he said he "hit a wall" after playing that much intense golf, which was one reason for wanting to reduce his 2025 schedule.

McIlroy was also one of those who said The Memorial should be more of a standalone event, and for 2025 it's back in its regular spot, only with McIlroy currently not being part of the field.