Rory McIlroy Reveals Reason For RBC Heritage No-Show

Rory McIlroy revealed the reason for his withdrawal at the RBC Heritage a few weeks ago this week at the Wells Fargo Championship.

He told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis:

“More for my mental and emotional well being, I needed to be home for those few weeks. I think I’m in a better head space than I was.”

🚨#NEW: Rory McIlroy tells Todd Lewis that he skipped the RBC Heritage for mental health related reasons following his MC at the Masters. McIlroy is not slated to meet the assembled media at Quail Hollow. @TrackingRory

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 2, 2023

Dan Rapaport also spoke to McIlroy and said his absence was due to “personal reasons,” and it was a “private matter.” He is happy to be back at Quail Hollow this week.

McIlroy was heading into the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina, just one week removed from a disappointing Masters appearance. Coming off of a 2nd place performance in 2022, Rory was looking to win the 2023 Green Jacket to close out his career Grand Slam. A poor performance in Augusta delayed this achievement for one more year, at least.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by RORY (@rorymcilroy)

It was obviously a tough pill to swallow, as he had prepared heavily for the event and had even shown up to Augusta early to play numerous practice rounds ahead of time. However, things didn’t go according to plan, and the emotional aspect of it leaked into the following week at the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links.

McIlroy chose to skip the elevated event despite being a major proponent for the PGA Tour’s stars and their relatively mandatory attendance at the Tour’s premiere events. McIlroy has pushed for the PGA Tour to adapt as a few top golfers left for LIV Golf last year, and his skipping of the RBC Heritage rubbed some of his colleagues the wrong way.

Xander Schauffele said regarding McIlroy’s absence:

“Rules are the rules. So, I mean, for the most part, a lot of what he wanted is what’s happening. And the irony is that he’s not here.”

Each of the game’s top players can miss one elevated event without a penalty, and McIlroy used his at the Sentry TOC earlier this year. Missing the RBC Heritage cost Rory $3 million.

Cover Image Via Twitter