Rory McIlroy pulls out of the tournament even after facing a huge multi-million dollar fine.
Rory McIlroy won’t be playing in the RBC Heritage this month, even though skipping it has cost him over $2 million before.
After an exciting weekend at Augusta National in Georgia, Rory made history by becoming just the fourth player to win The Masters two years in a row. He led every day but kept things close, winning by just one shot.
After this big win, Rory chose to skip the RBC Heritage, a popular PGA Tour event that usually happens the week after The Masters. While it’s not a major tournament, the Heritage has a big prize pool—$20 million, just slightly less than Augusta’s.
But Rory doesn’t seem worried about missing out on the money. Back in 2023, he was fined millions for pulling out of the same event. That year, after missing the cut at The Masters, he took some time to “get some things in place” and decided not to play at Hilton Head.
He explained, “I had my reasons to skip Hilton Head and told PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan about them. It was an easy choice for me, even if it meant a fine.”
That fine was huge—about £2.2 million—because of a PGA Tour rule back then. It said top players in the Player Impact Program (PIP) had to play almost all the big events. Since Rory also missed the Sentry Tournament of Champions, he lost a big part of his PIP bonus.
The good news is that rule ended in 2024. Now, the PGA Tour is encouraging players by raising prize money instead of handing out fines. So, Rory probably won’t get any trouble for skipping the RBC Heritage.
In fact, he seemed happy to skip it, especially since he only finished tied for 41st in one of his two tries in 2020. Rory said, “When I played the course, I remembered why I don’t come here much. It’s tough.
“It’s a great place, but other courses on Tour suit my game better. Plus, the week after The Masters is always tough. Many guys like to relax here, but for me, relaxing means not seeing golf clubs for a week.”