A career Grand Slam hasn’t ended the controversies around Rory McIlroy.
The recent Masters champ is not playing in the Memorial this week and it did not reach out to Jack Nicklaus — who founded the tournament and is the face of the event — to let him know that he would be skipping it.
Nicklaus said Tuesday he was surprised McIlroy was not in the field for the first time since 2017 and that he hasn’t spoken to him since McIlroy won the green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam.
Nicklaus was short with his answers on McIlroy, not wanting to make his absence a bigger deal at the tournament celebrating its 50th year.
“I really don’t know why Rory didn’t talk to me,” Nicklaus said. “I can’t answer that question. There’s nothing I can answer. I know he has to make a schedule that works for him and what he has to do. And I understand, because I had to do the same thing.
“We just weren’t included this year.”
Others were not as understanding that Nicklaus did not get the courtesy of a call.
“Rory not calling Jack to tell him he’s not playing Memorial is not it. 5 mins would’ve gone a long way,” golf reporter Dan Rapaport wrote on X.
McIlroy is playing the RBC Canadian Open next week ahead of the U.S. Open. He had played the Memorial and Canadian Open back to back every year since 2021.
Adding to the surprise was their relationship. McIlroy is a member at Nicklaus’ home course The Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Florida, and he sought out Nicklaus ahead of the Masters to ask questions on how to play Augusta National.
Nicklaus has not spoken to him since then, but he did write up a letter of congratulations, as he does for all major champions.
When a PGA Tour icon is the tournament host, players with a history of playing the event often will call ahead of time if they decide to skip it. Rickie Fowler once drove to Orlando, Florida, to have lunch with Arnold Palmer and explain why he couldn’t play Bay Hill.
Asked if it would have been protocol for McIlroy to have called him, Nicklaus put up his hands.
“I am not throwing Rory under the bus,” he said. “I like Rory too much. He’s a good kid. He’s played some great golf. He’s had a lot of things that have happened to him. He’s got to make his own call on things. Could he have done them differently? Probably. But that’s all right. I could probably have done some of mine differently, too.
“I’m not complaining about Rory.”
McIlroy has not spoken publicly since the eve of the PGA Championship. He turned down media requests after all four rounds at Quail Hollow.
McIlroy won the Canadian Open in 2019. It was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and McIlroy won it again when he returned in 2022.
“I haven’t talked to him for him to tell me why or why not. It’s just his call,” Nicklaus said. “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.
“I’m a big Rory fan. I always have been. I’m sure that I will remain that way,” he said. “I just … I was a little surprised, yes.”
— With AP
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