Rory McIlroy has made a surprising U-turn on his usual decision to play a tournament ahead of a major. The Northern Irish star is not featuring in the Canadian Open, currently underway in Toronto, opting instead to take a hiatus before tackling the third major of the season, the US Open, which begins on Thursday, June 18.
Managing Schedule for Shinnecock Hills
The two-time Masters champion is said to be managing his schedule in preparation for the event at Shinnecock Hills. McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have disagreed on playing tournaments before a major in the past. The American star does not favour it and is subsequently missing the Toronto-based competition too, as per his preference.
Previous Stance Reversed
Speaking in 2025, McIlroy claimed he was in favour of playing ahead of a prestige event, but not immediately after, a position he has reversed before this year's US Open. “Before, I’m all for,” he said. “After, I wouldn’t. I’m not a huge fan of it, but there’s only so many weeks in the year. I really like playing the week before if it makes sense.”
Scheffler, the world No.1, disagreed with McIlroy. “I typically don’t love playing the week before a major,” he said. “It’s nice to have so many tournaments that are really good. If I had it my way I would play every single week out here. But just the nature of our sport and the demand on our time and everything it’s not really possible.”
“If y’all were to walk with me each day of the tournament and see what we have to do in order to play one week, having to do that four weeks in a row. I wouldn’t be able to perform my best. So when I show up at a tournament I want to be able to give it my best and I have to set up my schedule in a certain way and, you know, the chips kind of fall where they do.”
Recent Performance and Preparation
McIlroy was in action at the Memorial earlier this month, where he secured a joint T12 finish alongside Scheffler and Justin Rose. The Northern Irishman's sights are set on claiming a second major title of the season at Southampton, New York next week. Before the Memorial, he returned home to spend time with his family and plan focused training sessions at his £9 million property on the exclusive Wentworth estate in Surrey.
“I had a couple of weeks off and we got ourselves settled into our house in London for the summer. It was nice to be there for the last 10 days,” the Holywood-born star said. Speaking after the Memorial, McIlroy admitted he had some work to do ahead of the US Open. “Off the tee still wasn't where I want it to be,” he said. “Thankfully, the fairways at Shinnecock are a little wider than they are here. But, yeah, still need to work on that. I need to work on how I'm hitting it off the tee.”
