Is Rory McIlroy playing at the 2025 Memorial Tournament?

The Memorial Tournament is scheduled to take place this week at Muirfield Village Golf Club, featuring many of the top golfers in the world. However, Rory McIlroy, the 2025 Masters champion, will not be participating in this event.

The Memorial Tournament is recognized as one of the most prestigious non-major tournaments in the sport. Participation is limited to a select group of players worldwide, and notable names such as Scottie Scheffler, Colin Morikawa, Shane Lowry, and Xander Schauffele are set to take part this year.

Despite this, Rory McIlroy will be absent from the field. Since his pre-tournament press conference at the PGA Championship, he has not made any public statements explaining his decision to skip the Memorial Tournament, marking his first absence from the event since 2017.

At the recent PGA Championship held at Quail Hollow, McIlroy’s performance did not meet expectations, a notable departure given his previous successes on that course. Since that tournament, he has not competed in any other events.

Rory McIlroy is expected to return to competition at the RBC Canadian Open, the final PGA Tour event before the U.S. Open. This appearance appears to be part of his preparation for the major championship.

"Getting the Masters, the career Grand Slam, the fifth major, getting all that out of the way. I think it will allow me to play with a lot more freedom. I do think it's going to free me up. It's been a long time coming," he said via the BBC in April.

PGA: PGA Championship - Final Round - Source: Imagn

In past remarks, Rory McIlroy has mentioned that he considers the Muirfield Village course used for the Memorial Tournament to be particularly challenging, as Smylie Kauffman shared recently.

Smylie Kauffman talks about Rory McIlroy missing the 2025 Memorial Tournament

Kaufman, fellow professional golfer and podcast host, recently shared insights on McIlroy’s feelings about Muirfield Village Golf Club. Speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman said (via TalkSport):

“I don’t think that Rory loves to play Muirfield as much as maybe he used to. The place has just gotten ridiculously hard, man. Last year was an absolute joke.”

Kaufman described how difficult the course had become, recalling conversations with McIlroy about his frustration. He said:

“It was so, so hard. I remember walking out some fairways with Rory, just talking about the golf course with him and how frustrated he was just with certain shots that are just like, what are you going to do? There’s nowhere to miss it here.”

“Typically, that form of complaints would be made by players way less talented than him. If a player like him is saying, Man, this place is just ridiculous, that’s just a bit of a sign that maybe it’s a little bit too much now. I don’t think they quite have that golf course like it used to be.”

Why do you think Rory McIlroy might be missing the Signature Event? Let us know in the comments section below!