Rory McIlroy was due to reveal all today about his woeful missed cut at the Masters but the world No 3 has decided to maintain his silence by skipping the RBC Heritage.
There were raised eyebrows all round when the news of McIlroy’s 11th hour withdrawal came throughyesterday, with no explanation provided. The $20 million tournament — which starts in Hilton Head on Thursday — is one of the PGA Tour’s “designated events” introduced this season, with McIlroy’s input, as a counter to the threat of LIV Golf.
Under the Tour regulations, which are tied to the $100m Player Impact Programme (PIP) rewarding the 20 personalities with the biggest reach in the media and on social media, golfers must play in at least 12 of the 13 designated events. McIlroy has already missed one — the year-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii — so it is unclear if he will be ineligible for a payout after scooping $12m last year for coming second behind Tiger Woods in the PIP.
The first prize at the Heritage is $3.5m which is $260,000 more than Jon Rahm picked up for his Masters success on Monday. Rahm is teeing it up the Harbour Town course, alongside 20 other members of the world’s top 25.
Without details of any injury — McIlroy’s management had not responded to a request for comment at time of publishing — it can only be assumed that the after-affects of his latest Masters shortfall are to blame. This was his ninth attempt at completing the career grand slam to join Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen in the pantheon.
McIlroy arrived in Georgia with so much confidence after finishing third at the WGC Match Play two weeks before and claiming that his second place in the 2022 Masters had resulted in him shrugging off the Augusta demons that have plagued him since his 2011 meltdown at the season’s first major.
But the 72-77 performance — which left him on five-over and five shots behind 63-year-old Fred Couples — inevitably only adds to the conviction that the scar tissue still exists. McIlroy declined to speak to media after his second round.
The next designated event is in three weeks at Quail Hollow, where McIlroy has won three times. The US PGA Championship follows three weeks later at Oak Hill, Rochester, where McIlroy will attempt once more to collect his first major title in nine years.
