'This is actually laughable...' PGA Tour fans react to shock Rory McIlroy news

Rory McIlroy has confirmed he will bypass next week's $20m Memorial Tournament hosted by golf legend Jack Nicklaus from 29 May to 1 June. 

It will mark the first time in eight years that McIlroy, 36, has missed out on playing in the famed PGA Tour event at Muirfield Village. 

McIlroy has never won the Memorial. 

The 2025 renewal of the coveted Memorial Tournament marks the seventh of eight Signature Events on the PGA Tour this season. 

What becomes even more shocking is that last season McIlroy called for the Memorial to change place on the PGA Tour schedule.

McIlroy felt it should be a stand-alone event. 

That was after the 2024 Memorial Tournament took place a week before the U.S. Open.

"This is more than a tune-up for the U.S. Open," McIlroy said during the Memorial last season where he went on to finish T15. 

"This is a huge tournament, with the host being arguably the greatest player ever to play the game, so it needs to stand on its own a little bit."

Upon McIlroy's request and that of tournament host Nicklaus, the 2025 Memorial Tournament was brought forward in the schedule and two weeks before golf's third major of the season at Oakmont. 

Only McIlroy isn't bothering to show up...

Instead, the Masters champion is going to compete in the following week's RBC Canadian Open at TPC Toronto, which takes place a week before the U.S. Open. 

McIlroy will now have missed three of the first seven Signature Events on the PGA Tour.

He missed The Sentry at the start of the season, the RBC Heritage after winning The Masters in April and now the Memorial Tournament. 

How McIlroy's Memorial decision sits with sponsors, Nicklaus and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan remains to be seen.

Signature Events with giant prize purses were set up to get all the world's biggest and best PGA Tour stars together more often. 

The latest update has certainly not gone down well with PGA Tour fans, who were expecting to see McIlroy return to action in Ohio. 

"This is actually laughable given he wanted to change the date of the Memorial in the first place," wrote one disgruntled fan.

"Absolute joke, bet Jack is fuming about this," tweeted one frustrated fan.

"Skipping Jack's event is a bad look," wrote one. 

Another commented; "I think he's p***** at the tour and media for the driver leak last week. No one else, including Scottie, had the same info leaked. He probably feels targeted by someone(s) in the org and he's taking a break."

As the above comment suggests, McIlroy has still yet to speak with the media after news broke last week that his 'gamer' driver had been deemed to be 'non-conforming' ahead of the PGA Championship.

While that should have become a non-story and shut down quickly, especially since PGA champion Scottie Scheffler declared his own driver failed the latest CT test with the USGA, it has certainly become a bigger one now in light of McIlroy's silence on the subject. 

McIlroy declined all interview requests from Thursday to Sunday at Quail Hollow Club.

It now remains to be seen whether he chooses to speak with the media at the RBC Canadian Open from 5-8 June.

But he will have to sooner rather than later since the topic isn't going away... 

World No.1 and defending champion Scheffler will start as a red-hot tournament favourite in the limited-field, no-cut Memorial. 

Other stars in action include Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Ludvig Aberg and 2023 champion Viktor Hovland. 

And yes, you guessed it, Rickie Fowler received yet another sponsor's exemption.

McIlroy confirmed earlier in the week that he will be competing in India for the first time in his career this October. 

the Memorial Tournament field 2025