‘I had my reasons’ – Rory McIlroy skips PGA Tour event that cost him $3million for rule violation
Masters champion Rory McIlroy will be conspicuous by his absence on the PGA Tour this week. Having finally completed the career grand slam at Augusta, the Northern Irishman is presumably having one of sport’s biggest-ever parties, along with a well-deserved rest. McIlroy is not in the field for this week’s PGA Tour eventGetty McIlroy is skipping the RBC Heritage this week, despite it being one of eight ‘signature events’ on the PGA Tour. He is the only top-five player in the world missing from field at Harbour Town. McIlroy is not expected to return until the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on April 24, where he will play alongside close friend Shane Lowry and defend the title they won last year. Fortunately for McIlroy, ‘signature events’ are no longer mandatory, so he is free to skip the RBC Heritage without consequences. But back in 2023, the 35-year-old’s decision to take a week off after the Masters cost him $3million. A missed cut at Augusta saw the crestfallen star return home for his mental and emotional well-being. PGA Tour rules that year stated that top players were allowed to skip one ‘signature event’ – but this was McIlroy’s second no-show of the season. That forced him to forego 25 per cent of his PIP (Player Impact Program) bonus – which was around $12m – resulting in a $3m fine. At the time, he admitted to ‘knowing the consequences’ of skipping the Heritage, describing it as an ‘easy decision’. “I had my reasons to not play Hilton Head and I’ve expressed those to Jay,” McIlroy said, noting a conversation with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. View Tweet: https://t.co/4XBbCXwjWA “It was an easy decision, but I felt like if that fine or whatever is to happen was worth that for me in order to get some things in place.” Still, the Northern Irishman is willingly forgoing the chance to win $3.6million this week, with an enormous amount of prize money up for grabs. Having already bagged $4.2m at Augusta, we doubt it will bother him that much. One man who will compete at Hilton Head is Scottie Scheffler, who had the responsibility of putting the Green Jacket on McIlroy’s shoulders as the outgoing Masters champion. Speaking at a press conference ahead of this week’s tournament, Scheffler said: “It was cool to be able to see Rory get the job done. “Definitely, from the outside, it looked a lot more like relief than anything. Rory has accomplished everything in the game of golf, and that was really the last thing for him to accomplish. Two-time Masters winner Scheffler admitted he was thrilled for McIlroyGetty “The guy has won the FedEx Cup, The Players (Championship), all four majors. Maybe the only other thing would be the Olympics, what he would want to win. “So for him, it was really cool for me to be there in that moment. He’s a good friend of mine. To be able to congratulate him and just see the joy on him and his family was really cool.”
Masters champion Rory McIlroy will be conspicuous by his absence on the PGA Tour this week.
Having finally completed the career grand slam at Augusta, the Northern Irishman is presumably having one of sport’s biggest-ever parties, along with a well-deserved rest.
McIlroy is skipping the RBC Heritage this week, despite it being one of eight ‘signature events’ on the PGA Tour.
He is the only top-five player in the world missing from field at Harbour Town.
McIlroy is not expected to return until the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on April 24, where he will play alongside close friend Shane Lowry and defend the title they won last year.
Fortunately for McIlroy, ‘signature events’ are no longer mandatory, so he is free to skip the RBC Heritage without consequences.
But back in 2023, the 35-year-old’s decision to take a week off after the Masters cost him $3million.
A missed cut at Augusta saw the crestfallen star return home for his mental and emotional well-being.
PGA Tour rules that year stated that top players were allowed to skip one ‘signature event’ – but this was McIlroy’s second no-show of the season.
That forced him to forego 25 per cent of his PIP (Player Impact Program) bonus – which was around $12m – resulting in a $3m fine.
At the time, he admitted to ‘knowing the consequences’ of skipping the Heritage, describing it as an ‘easy decision’.
“I had my reasons to not play Hilton Head and I’ve expressed those to Jay,” McIlroy said, noting a conversation with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.
“It was an easy decision, but I felt like if that fine or whatever is to happen was worth that for me in order to get some things in place.”
Still, the Northern Irishman is willingly forgoing the chance to win $3.6million this week, with an enormous amount of prize money up for grabs.
Having already bagged $4.2m at Augusta, we doubt it will bother him that much.
One man who will compete at Hilton Head is Scottie Scheffler, who had the responsibility of putting the Green Jacket on McIlroy’s shoulders as the outgoing Masters champion.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of this week’s tournament, Scheffler said: “It was cool to be able to see Rory get the job done.
“Definitely, from the outside, it looked a lot more like relief than anything. Rory has accomplished everything in the game of golf, and that was really the last thing for him to accomplish.
“The guy has won the FedEx Cup, The Players (Championship), all four majors. Maybe the only other thing would be the Olympics, what he would want to win.
“So for him, it was really cool for me to be there in that moment. He’s a good friend of mine. To be able to congratulate him and just see the joy on him and his family was really cool.”
