Two majors down, two to go. Rory McIlroy wrapped up a tough week at the 2026 PGA Championship and has immediately set his sights on what comes next. When asked about his upcoming schedule, the golfer was clear with his plan.

“I’m going to take a couple of weeks off, and then Memorial will be my next one,” he told the media.

The 2026 Memorial Tournament will take place from June 4 to 7 at Muirfield Village Golf Club and is hosted by Jack Nicklaus. It is one of the PGA Tour’s Signature Events, featuring a limited 72-player field and a $20 million purse.

Rory McIlroy has 11 career starts at Muirfield Village but has never won there, with a career-best finish of fourth place back in 2014. That is a gap in an otherwise extraordinary resume, and with the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills coming up on June 18, the Memorial gives him a competitive week on a demanding course without the grind of a full schedule leading into it.

McIlroy shot a final-round 69 at Aronimink, finishing at four under for the week to settle for seventh spot. If he had won it, then he would have tied Harry Vardon’s record of seven major championships by a European. Notably, McIlroy’s hiatus could be to take some time off to feel better.

He had a blister on his right pinky toe. It first developed during the second round of the Truist Championship and had been troubling him throughout the week. By the time he arrived at Aronimink for his Tuesday practice round, he had already ripped the toenail off in an attempt to treat the issue.

His practice session lasted only three holes before he was taken off the course in a cart. He played the entire tournament on it regardless, and that kind of physical wear adds up, and the rest period looks even more justified when you factor that in.

Anyways, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson absence is nothing new. McIlroy has never played the event. He skipped it last year, saying he wanted to “recharge the batteries a little bit.”

The Northern Irishman has been blunt about picking and choosing the events he wants to play in. So far this season, he has passed on Valspar Championship, the Texas Children’s Houston Open, the Valero Texas Open, the Zurich Classic, the RBC Heritage, and the Cadillac Championship as well. His reasoning is simple.

“If I weren’t giving my 100% attention to the tournament, then there’s no reason to play it.”

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour moves on without several big names this week.

The CJ Cup Byron Nelson field takes a hit with 4 WDs

The CJ Cup Byron Nelson gets underway just days after the PGA Championship wrapped up, and the field has already taken a few hits. Nicolai Hojgaard, Marco Penge, Michael Kim, and Aldrich Potgieter have all withdrawn from the event at TPC Craig Ranch this week.

Penge’s withdrawal is the most notable. The Englishman has been dealing with the effects of a viral infection he picked up in November and has decided his health needs to come before golf right now.

“I am going to take some time off to get my health back to where it needs to be,” he said on Instagram.

Aaron Rai, Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg, and Justin Rose are also not in the field this week, leaving a noticeable gap at the top of the leaderboard heading into the tournament.

That clears a pretty wide path for world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who enters as the clear favorite and the defending champion.