Rory McIlroy is once again in the headlines for some negative reasons ahead of The Memorial Tournament this week but now, the Masters winner has been backed.
McIlroy will not play at Muirfield Village – one of the PGA Tour’s signature events – and will instead tee it up at the Canadian Open before heading to Oakmont for the US Open.
McIlroy has been slammed by fans for opting to miss Jack Nicklaus’ event, while Ryan Lavner also criticised McIlroy’s decision.
However, like in any hero and villain story, there is another way to look at things and according to Smylie Kaufman, there are justified reasons for McIlroy choosing to skip the event.
Why Rory McIlroy is being criticised for missing The Memorial Tournament
Kaufman was discussing the issue of McIlroy skipping The Memorial on the latest episode of his Smylie Show and in doing so, he pointed to why McIlroy is under the spotlight
“I think the criticism with Rory is understood because when you go back to that meeting in Delaware with all the top players, Tiger flying in, when I think Ricky was on the flight coming up to meet with the guys about, all right, guys, let’s all commit to be playing together at signature events eight times of the year. And there’s going to be a penalty if you don’t play in those events,” Kaufman said.
“And what we can do, this is all these guys at this meeting are saying to the PGA Tour executives, y’all can go and charge these sponsors more because we will guarantee them that we will all be there playing. And so Rory was a part of this. He was one of the many top players that were there, that were advocating towards, we need to play against the best players in the world.
“So that’s where the scrutiny is coming from with Rory, is the fact that he’s going to skip three of these signature events, like you said, possibility that he might skip Memphis. But then there’s the other side of the coin, which is I don’t really hate it.”
Smylie Kaufman defends Rory McIlroy decision as he questions PGA Tour scheduling
The Memorial is one of the big events on the TOUR and with Jack Nicklaus always there and the history around it, it’s often seen as one of the best tournaments outside the majors.
However, while McIlroy has come under scrutiny for missing it, Smylie Kaufman has defended him and instead, blamed the PGA Tour for their scheduling.
“I think the signature events, the way they’re laid out in the schedule needs to be looked at,” Kaufman admitted.
“I think they’re too grouped up. They’re not spaced out enough. And it puts guys in really weird, situations around the majors of, OK, do I value playing at the Memorial, a place that has always been one of the premier events on the PGA Tour? Arnold Palmer would be in that same vein as far as PGA Tour events. And guys are just like, you know what? I’m good.
“I’ll play the week before a major because I’d rather just stick to that routine. That’s what Rory played in Houston, right? Before, well, I guess the argument could be made is that Houston was two weeks before Augusta, where San Antonio was the week before.”
With big players missing signature events – Scottie Scheffler missed the Truist – the TOUR does seem to have an issue on its hands.
Quite whether anything will change, remains to be seen.
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