Rory McIlroy pulls out of tournament as Masters winner gives up chance at £14.8m
Rory McIlroy remains primed to defend his Masters title as he sits in a shared lead heading into the final round but has decided to opt out of a tournament
Rory McIlroy is still hunting to retain his Masters crown(Image: Getty)
Rory McIlroy remains in contention to retain his title at the Masters after his six-shot lead was extinguished on Saturday. But he has already made a decision about a different upcoming tournament.
The Northern Irishman would become only the fourth player in Masters history to secure consecutive titles if he were to do so, with Tiger Woods the last to achieve this in 2002. McIlroy had shared the lead after day one, but knew precisely when to step on the gas in round two, establishing a commanding six-shot advantage over joint second-placed Sam Burns and Patrick Reed.
He did see the pack close in on him during the third round and he now shares the lead at Augusta National once again with Cameron Young on -11. Yet, irrespective of where he finishes in Georgia, he won’t be in action in the week to follow.
That’s because, once again, McIlroy is choosing to skip the upcoming RBC Heritage in South Carolina. It’s the first tournament after the Masters and McIlroy has frequently opted to bypass the £14.8million-purse event as he recovers from the opening major championship of the year.
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McIlroy didn’t compete in the event last year, but three years ago, the golfing star was hit with a substantial penalty for his withdrawal.
The 36-year-old was caught up on Saturday(Image: Getty)
That’s because PGA Tour regulations at the time prohibited players from missing two signature events in a year, something McIlroy did in 2023.
The penalty was a hefty one too, setting him back a staggering £2.2m, but the regulations have since been updated, meaning the world No. 2 will be permitted to skip the RBC Heritage without facing any punishment.
McIlroy has already sat out several tournaments this year which is something he has credited for his strong showing at Augusta National this week.
Reflecting on his preparations for the 2026 tournament, he said: “I honestly just don’t like the three tournaments leading up to this event.
“I’d rather come up here. I did a couple of days where I dropped [daughter] Poppy to school, flew up here, played, landed back home and had dinner with Poppy and [wife] Erica.
McIlroy will bypass the Heritage(Image: Getty)
“I did a couple of day trips like that where I felt it was a better use of my time than going to Houston or San Antonio. It wasn’t really about conserving energy, but just I felt the more time I could spend up here, the better.”
He went on to add: “I’ve been on this golf course so much the last three weeks. That has been a combination of practice and chipping and putting around greens.
“Then I’ve just been playing one ball and shooting scores and ending up in weird places that you maybe never find yourself, and just trying to figure it out. I think just spending so much time up here has been a big part of it.”
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Coverage of The Masters gets underway on April 6 and golf fans can watch it live with Sky’s Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle. This includes 135 channels, nine from Sky Sports, plus HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu.
