Rory McIlroy gets candid about ‘college kids’ on PGA Tour ahead of tee time with Luke Clanton

Rory McIlroy candidly reflected on playing with PGA Tour pro Luke Clanton at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, scheduled to start on Thursday, June 5, in Canada. Before that, in a pre-tournament press conference held on Wednesday, June 4, McIlroy was asked about playing with Clanton.

McIlroy shared his excitement to play with the American golfer, saying, via ASAP Sports:

"I haven't really met him, or I certainly haven't played with him, so I'm looking forward to that over the next two days. It seems like a lot of these college kids are coming out just ready.

"You look over the past few years, Ludvig, for example, Michael Thorbjornsen, obviously Luke. I think this PGA TOUR U program is so good. If it was up to me, I'd give the college kids five or ten spots on TOUR instead of just one."

Luke Clanton turned pro in 2025 and has some decent finishes on the PGA Tour. He started the season playing at the Sony Open in Hawaii but missed the cut in the tournament. He played at the Farmers Insurance Open and finished in T15. He had played five tournaments on the PGA Tour in 2025 and made the cut in three of them.

This week at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, Luke Clanton is scheduled to tee off for the first and second rounds in a group with Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Åberg.

When will Rory McIlroy tee off at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open?

Rory McIlroy and his group mates will tee off for the opening round of the 2025 RBC Canadian Open at 7:40 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 5. The group will start the game on the tenth hole.

The game will officially start at 6:45 a.m. ET with Justin Lower, Nicolai Højgaard, and Dylan Wu taking the first shot of the day on the first tee hole and Beau Hossler, Henrik Norlander, and Roger Sloan on the tenth.

Here are the tee times and pairings of some notable groups for the 2025 RBC Canadian Open (all times in ET):

First tee

6:45 AM -- Justin Lower, Nicolai Højgaard, Dylan Wu
6:56 AM -- Chad Ramey, Andrew Putnam, Rico Hoey
7:07 AM -- Doug Ghim, Hayden Buckley, Mac Meissner
7:18 AM -- Davis Riley, Lee Hodges, Gary Woodland
7:29 AM -- Matthieu Pavon, Adam Svensson, Aaron Wise
7:40 AM -- Thomas Detry, Keith Mitchell, Byeong Hun An
7:51 AM -- Camilo Villegas, Emiliano Grillo, Nick Hardy
12:33 PM -- Ryan Fox, Tom Kim, Cameron Young
12:44 PM -- Wyndham Clark, Justin Rose, Adam Hadwin
12:55 PM -- Robert MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, Corey Conners
1:06 PM -- Rafael Campos, Peter Malnati, Seamus Power

10th tee

6:45 AM -- Beau Hossler, Henrik Norlander, Roger Sloan
6:56 AM -- Mark Hubbard, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg
7:07 AM -- Mike Weir, Chan Kim, Ben Silverman
7:18 AM -- Sam Burns, Max Homa, Sungjae Im
7:29 AM -- Nick Taylor, Taylor Pendrith, Mackenzie Hughes
7:40 AM -- Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg, Luke Clanton
8:02 AM -- Nate Lashley, Alex Smalley, Victor Perez
8:13 AM -- Matteo Manassero, Jackson Suber, Ashton McCulloch (a)
12 noon -- Kevin Kisner, Eric Cole, David Lipsky
12:33 PM -- Nick Dunlap, Brandt Snedeker, Adam Schenk
12:44 PM -- Brice Garnett, Jake Knapp, Luke List
1:39 PM -- Taylor Montgomery, Matthew Riedel, Justin Matthews (a)

About the author

Ankita Yadav is an NFL and Golf writer at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in journalism (and counting). With a Master’s degree in Chemistry, she somehow swapped test tubes for touchdowns and tee shots—and hasn’t looked back since.

She’s previously covered the world of entertainment with OtakuKart and TV Season & Spoilers and worked as an editor at ComingSoon. Her stories have racked up nearly nine million reads, and she’s had the chance to interview top athletes like professional golfer Yuvraj Singh Sandhu.

Based in Bhopal, Ankita proudly supports the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, and is a fan of Nelly Korda. When she’s not writing, she’s probably at a live music show, watching a movie or out on a long drive.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam