Rory McIlroy reveals why he snubbed Jack Nicklaus' invite to play in the Memorial Tournament

Rory McIlroy has told Golf Channel's Kira K. Dixon he had always planned to skip the Memorial Tournament this season because he no longer wants to play four weeks in a row on the PGA Tour now that he is 36.

McIlroy, who turned 36 last month, skipped Jack Nicklaus' famous annual PGA Tour event at Muirfield Village Golf Club last week for the first time since 2017. 

Nicklaus, 85, admitted he was "surprised" by McIlroy's decision to bypass his tournament. 

It was perhaps an even bigger surprise to many that the World No.2 did not even text or call Nicklaus to let him know of his decision.

Record 18-time major champion Nicklaus had also spent a bit of time with McIlroy in the weeks leading up to The Masters.

Nicklaus is said to have given him advice on how best to tackle Augusta National. 

He also told him to "not do dumb things".

The Memorial marked the seventh of eight Signature Events on the PGA Tour this season.

McIlroy has now missed three of them but he has confirmed he will play in the final one at the Travelers Championship from 19-22 June. 

That will mean he's played in just 50% of the Signature Events, $20m tournaments that were set up by the PGA Tour to bring the circuit's best together more often and to further broaden appeal to both sponsors and fans. 

While McIlroy admits he would have loved to have played at the Memorial Tournament, he also acknowledges he can no longer play four weeks on the bounce at 36 years old. 

McIlroy has instead chosen to play in this week's RBC Canadian Open, a tournament he has won twice before albeit on different courses to this week's TPC Toronto test. 

The Northern Irishman will then compete in the U.S. Open at Oakmont next week, before turning his attention to the Travlers Championship at TPC River Highlands. 

"I just wanted to do what was best for me looking towards the U.S. Open," McIlroy told Golf Channel's Dixon when asked why he refused to play in the Memorial Tournament. 

"I've realised I'm not 25 anymore, I'm 36. For a 36-year-old, there's a lot of miles on the clock and I just don't want to play four weeks in a row at this point in my career.

"I was always going to play here [RBC Canadian Open], I skipped the Travelers [Championship] last year so I wanted to make good on that and go back there. 

"At some point, something has to give and I made the decision at the start of the year when I was making my schedule that the Memorial wasn't going to be a part of it. That's tough, it's one of the best tournaments we have but I just felt for my schedule and my preparation, especially for the U.S. Open, it was the right decision." 

Related: Rory McIlroy reveals exactly when his driver was last tested before Masters

In preparation for next week's U.S. Open, McIlroy went to take an early look at Oakmont on Monday.

McIlroy admitted the course is playing "brutal" and that level par will be a great score when all is said and done. 

"I saw it on Monday, it's a brutal test, everyone is going to have to pack their patience," said McIlroy, who agonisingly finished runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau at last year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

"You are going to have to accept whatever happens, happens. It's always a difficult golf course but then you couple that with a U.S. Open setup, I think even par is going to be a really good score. 

"You've got to go there and try make as many pars as you can and keep the doubles and triples off your scorecard, and if you do that you will have a good chance." 

McIlroy also spoke to Dixon about his driver controversy at the PGA Championship.

He also revealed when his driver had last been tested before his historic triumph at The Masters. 

McIlroy also confirmed exactly why he shunned the media last month during his latest press conference. 

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