Rory McIlroy will be taking some time away from the golf course after the PGA Championship.
McIlroy was looking to keep the season-long Grand Slam alive by winning the PGA Championship this weekend, after winning the Masters last month. However, McIlroy fell short of Aaron Rai, who won the tournament for his first-ever major championship.
Following McIlroy’s tied-for-seventh-place finish at 4-under, he announced on the CBS broadcast that he will be taking some time off.
“I’m going to take a couple of weeks off, and Memorial will be my next one,” McIlroy said on the CBS broadcast.
McIlroy has changed his schedule quite a bit this season, as he’s been playing less. So, his taking a couple of weeks off after the PGA Championship isn’t a surprise.
So, the next time McIlroy will be in the field is at the Memorial Tournament on June 4-7 at Muirfield Village Golf Club, which is the annual PGA Tour event founded by Jack Nicklaus.
It’s also a tournament that McIlroy has never won, so he’ll be looking to win Jack’s tourney for the first time after a couple of weeks away.
McIlroy Believes he Left Shots on Course
As for McIlroy’s PGA Championship, he got into contention despite shooting an opening round 74, which was 4-over.
It was a disappointing opening round for McIlroy, but he shot three-under 67 on Friday and four-under 66 on Saturday to get into contention. Yet, on Sunday, McIlroy shot one-under 69, which was disappointing as the reigning back-to-back Masters champion felt like he left shots on the course.
“I think not birding the two Par-5s and then bogeying the drivable Par-4 13 was to me, I played the golf I needed to play the rest of the way,” McIlroy said. “If I birdie the two Par-5s and I turn that 5 into a 3 at 13, the day looks very different, even though Aaron is getting away from the field a little bit, and looks like he’s going to win, which is great. You won’t find one person on the property who isn’t happy for him. Looking back on today’s round, I’d redo those three holes.”
Although McIlroy feels like he left some shots on the course, Aaron Rai did run away with the tournament by shooting a 5-under 65 on Sunday and finishing at 9-under.
McIlroy Skipped Jack Nicklaus’ Tournament Last Year
McIlroy’s return at the Memorial Tournament is good news for the event after the fan-favorite skipped it last year.
After winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam, he opted to skip the tournament, which was a major surprise. Nicklaus also revealed McIlroy never told him he was going to miss it.
“It surprised me. But, you know, guys have got schedules and got things they do,” Nicklaus said. “I haven’t talked to him for him to tell me why or why not. It’s just his call. I made a lot of calls that I had to make when I played to play or not play, and sometimes it wasn’t as popular as people thought it was. But sometimes you have to make those calls.
“I don’t hold anything against Rory for that. He did what he likes to play. I know he likes to play so many in a row. He likes to play the week before a U.S. Open. And that’s what he’s doing.”
After missing last year’s event, McIlroy will be back and fresh after a couple of weeks off.
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