Rory McIlroy reveals he always planned to skip Memorial for a reason

Rory McIlroy opened up about the reasons he skipped the 2025 Memorial Tournament. The Northern Irish golfer did not compete at the signature event last week. However, he is playing this week at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open.

This week, as he returned to the greens, the World No. 2 stated that he always planned to skip the Memorial Tournament as he wanted to play in the RBC Canadian Open and Travelers Championship. He wanted to avoid four straight tournaments and thus skipped the Memorial Tournament.

Golf analyst Bob Harig opened up about McIlroy's reason for not playing at the Memorial Tournament on his X account, writing:

"In Golf Ch interview, Rory with more detail. Said driver was tested in March passed. Still trying to figure out right one to use. Plans all year was to skip Memorial because was going to play Canada, wanted to return to Travelers, not play 4 straight"

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Following the Memorial Tournament last week, where Scottie Scheffler registered a win, PGA Tour players headed for the RBC Canadian Open, and then next week will tee off at the US Open 2025. The 2025 Travelers Championship is scheduled to take place from June 19 to 22.

Meanwhile, this week at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, Rory McIlroy started with the opening round of 71 and tied for 119th place in the event. He started the campaign on the tenth hole on Thursday, June 5.

However, McIlroy had a tough start and made a bogey on the 12th hole and then on the 17th, followed by a birdie on the 18th. Meanwhile, on the back nine, he carded two birdies and two bogeys for a 1-over-par round.

It's a regular PGA Tour event, which will wrap up with its finale on Sunday, June 8.

A look into Rory McIlroy's performance in 2025

Rory McIlroy played in nine tournaments this season on the PGA Tour and had some amazing performances. He started the season with a win at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he carded the four rounds of 66, 70, 65, and 66 to win the event. He has won three events this season.

Below are the results of the tournaments Rory McIlroy played on the PGA Tour in 2025:

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: 1 (66, 70, 65, 66)
The Genesis Invitational: T17 (72, 67, 74, 72)
Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: T15 (70, 70, 73, 72)
THE PLAYERS Championship: 1 (67, 68, 73, 68)
Texas Children's Houston Open: T5 (70, 66, 65, 64)
Masters Tournament: 1 (72, 66, 66, 73)
Zurich Classic of New Orleans: T12 (64, 69, 61, 72)
Truist Championship: T7 (66, 67, 69, 68)
PGA Championship: T47 (74, 69, 72, 72)

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