One year after failing to tell Jack Nicklaus he was bypassing the Memorial Tournament, No. 2-ranked golfer Rory McIlroy told the world he would be at Muirfield Village Golf Club this time around.
Following his final round at the PGA Championship May 17, McIlroy said on the CBS broadcast that he was taking the next two weeks off before returning to play the Memorial June 4-7 in Dublin.
McIlroy, who has won six major championships, but whose best finish at the Memorial is a tie for fourth in 2016, created what many considered a faux pas last year by opting to sit out the Memorial without calling or writing Nicklaus to offer an explanation. The Golden Bear mostly excused the lack of courtesy, but admitted it “surprised” him.
“I didn’t have a conversation with him,” Nicklaus said last May. “I don’t really have a comment on it. It’s very difficult for me. I’m a big Rory fan and will remain that way. I was just a little surprised, yes.”
McIlroy’s 2025 absence was significant because he arguably is the biggest draw on the PGA Tour and was coming off his first win in the Masters to join Nicklaus as one of six players to achieve the career grand slam – Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open. What made McIlroy’s decision to pass on the Memorial stand out is because his has a strong relationship with Nicklaus.
McIlroy will be coming off his second Masters victory when he tees it up at the 50th anniversary of the Memorial in June.
Other PGA Tour players who have committed to play are two-time Memorial winner Patrick Cantlay (2019, 2021), 2023 winner Viktor Hovland and two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Rory McIlroy tells CBS he will play the Memorial Tournament in June