Rory McIlroy has called time on a difficult two-week stretch by confirming he will skip the CJ Cup Byron Nelson this week and return at the Memorial Tournament in early June.
McIlroy gave the brief outline of his schedule after his final round at the 2026 PGA Championship, where he closed with a 69 at Aronimink but never escaped the chasing pack. Driver issues, a small but persistent foot injury and a tournament setup he had been openly critical of combined to push the world number two well outside contention by Sunday.
"I'm going to take a couple of weeks off, and then Memorial will be my next one," McIlroy said.
The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village runs from June 4-7, giving McIlroy a clean fortnight to rest and reset before stepping back inside the ropes. It is also a course where he has had success in the past and a Jack Nicklaus-hosted event he has consistently prioritised. Slotting it in as his comeback start, rather than the more lucrative Byron Nelson defence of a Texas field led by Scottie Scheffler, fits the pattern he has spoken about all year.
"If I weren't giving my 100% attention to the tournament, then there's no reason to play it," he said, summarising the schedule philosophy that has seen him cut starts across the spring.
The decision is unsurprising once the injury context is laid out. McIlroy picked up a blister on his right pinky toe at the Truist Championship the week before the major and aggravated it badly enough during a Tuesday practice round at Aronimink that he walked off after just three holes. He played the entire PGA Championship in altered footwear and admitted at points that the recovery from each round was harder than he expected. By Sunday evening he had told reporters that his body, more than his game, needed time.
Sitting out the CJ Cup Byron Nelson costs him FedExCup points and a paid Sunday at TPC Craig Ranch, but it also keeps him out of the heat and travel of Texas in late May. The Memorial offers a softer return: a familiar venue, an invitational field of around 120 players and the kind of demanding course profile that suits a player whose iron play remained one of the few constants at Aronimink.
His public criticism of the PGA Championship setup, which he labelled poorly prepared in the second-round mixed zone after a 67, has also worn on him. The press conference he gave on Friday at Aronimink — including his disclosure that he believed the PGA Tour "almost knew before the players did" that LIV Golf's funding was going — became one of the dominant storylines of the major and demanded his attention through the weekend.
The break is also a recognition that the calendar gets very heavy from here. The Memorial leads into the US Open at Shinnecock Hills on June 11-14, then the Travelers Championship and a run-up to the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July. Players who arrive at Shinnecock physically compromised tend not to leave with the trophy.
McIlroy now disappears from the entry list for a tournament whose absence list grew further on Monday when defending champion Aaron Rai also pulled out. Scheffler, the world number one and 2025 champion at TPC Craig Ranch, is still the betting favourite and will headline a field whose biggest two names are missing. For McIlroy, the next move is not on the leaderboard but on the treatment table — and then on Jack Nicklaus's home course in a fortnight.