The golf season continues to build superbly, with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler winning the first two majors of the year ahead of the US Open and The Open Championship.
There has been no shortage of storylines throughout the year, with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele initially dealing with injuries as Jordan Spieth made his return from surgery.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy completed the career grand slam at The Masters, while Justin Thomas ended his long wait for a win on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage. Elsewhere, Bryson DeChambeau continues to prove to be one of the most impressive players on LIV Golf.
And of course, few will forget how the end of golf’s civil war appeared to be in sight before talks seemingly stopped altogether.
Players backed to follow Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler after contentious decision
The PGA Tour is now in full flow, with The Memorial and the Canadian Open leading into the US Open at Oakmont. It is The Memorial which is a signature event, with Scheffler looking to defend his title.
One player who will not be in the field at Jack Nicklaus‘ tournament is McIlroy, with the Northern Irishman instead teeing it up at TPC Toronto the following week.
Fans were disappointed by McIlroy deciding not to play at The Memorial. Meanwhile, Scheffler chose not to play at the Truist Championship just before the PGA Championship, instead deciding to focus on the events in Texas at this time of the year.
And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast about McIlroy’s decision, Rex Hoggard suggested that he expects more players to skip the bigger tournaments.
“Not surprised, nor was I expecting any explanation to be honest with you. What the Tour has created, they are going to be victims of their own success,” he said.
“It is clear now that three years after the Signature Event experiment is that no amount of money or points is going to make players play exactly where you want them to play. It is simply not in their DNA. That has never been the way professional golfers have handled themselves. Having that autonomy to go play where they want is important to them.
“I do love the idea that Rory has been really clear about this. He has leaned into the idea that he wants to win national championships: US Opens, Canadian Opens, Scottish Opens. The national opens mean something to him. So he is essentially skipping the Memorial, trying to prepare for The Open but also the Canadian Open is going to be on the back end of that. So I am neither surprised nor did I expect anything else.
“I guess the one thing I would say that maybe does surprise me is that we are not seeing more top players do it. Because of the way the schedule is condensed now, it is probably not conducive for a lot of guys to play their best golf.
“We can go through the history of time – Patrick Reed for example loved to play every week and would not have been impacted by this. Most players don’t, they like some kind of ebb and flow to the schedule, so they can maximise their talent and potential when it matters the most. At The Masters, at The US Open, at the major championships.
“The schedule they have now does not allow them to do that and I would expect more players to start following Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler’s lead.”
How Rory McIlroy has performed at The Memorial Tournament over the years
McIlroy has a very respectable record at The Memorial without winning the tournament. He has finished inside the top 20 in his last four visits to Ohio. However, he has never finished higher than fourth, and he has as many missed cuts as top fives.
It does appear that McIlroy has reached a stage in his career where he has absolutely no interest in deviating from a schedule of the tournaments that he wants to play.
He also has some work to do on his game ahead of the third major of the year. He had such a forgettable week at the PGA Championship for a variety of reasons. So putting himself through the test that Muirfield Village provides may not make a lot of sense to him right now.
McIlroy seemed to benefit greatly from his decision to spend several weeks working on a simulator late last year. Perhaps he feels that something similar is exactly what he needs now as he looks to rediscover the form which saw him win three times earlier in the year.
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