Rory McIlroy is in the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill this week.
McIlroy actually didn’t play the Arnold Palmer Invitational until 2015, but since then, he hasn’t missed the event once.
The Northern Irishman won Arnold Palmer’s event in 2018 and he has only finished outside the top-10 three times since his tie for 27th in 2016.
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McIlroy is in confident mood ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week, after playing some impressive golf two weeks ago at Riviera.
A win would be hugely important for McIlroy as he sets out to make 2026 yet another special year in his career.
McIlroy playing at Bay Hill is almost a given these days. However, that wasn’t always the case.
Arnold Palmer’s reaction when Rory McIlroy decided to skip Bay Hill in 2013
McIlroy was already a huge name in the game in 2013, having won the US Open and the PGA Championship in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
With that in mind, it came as somewhat of a shock to Palmer when the Northern Irishman skipped what was one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour calendar.
Before the tournament began in 2013, Palmer told reporters that he presumed McIlroy would be teeing it up at Bay Hill, as quoted by the Golf Channel.
“Frankly, I thought he was going to play,” Palmer said.
“For some reason I got it in my mind that he would be playing, but that, obviously, is wrong.
“What his reason or reasoning is, I don’t know, and I’m not going to worry about it.”
Interestingly, McIlroy didn’t play at the Memorial Tournament in 2025 either, without informing Jack Nicklaus of his decision.
Jack Nicklaus commented on Rory McIlroy skipping the Memorial Tournament
Nicklaus responded when asked by reporters back in May about McIlroy’s absence from the event at Muirfield Village.
“It surprised me,” Nicklaus said.
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“But guys have got schedules and got things they do. I haven’t talked to him for him to tell me why or why not. It’s just his call.
“I made a lot of calls that I had to make when I played to play or not play, and sometimes it wasn’t as popular as people thought it was. But sometimes you have to make those calls.
“I don’t hold anything against Rory for that. He did what he likes to play. I know he likes to play so many in a row. He likes to play the week before a U.S. Open. And so that’s what he’s doing.
“I really don’t have a comment on it. It’s very difficult. I’m a big Rory fan, I always have been. I’m sure that I will remain that way.”
McIlroy clearly plays the tournaments he wants every year. However, it surely wouldn’t have done him any harm to contact two of the greatest players of all time in order to inform them of his decision to miss their events.
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