There’s no week like the Masters in golf, and some relaxing time is in order. For most of the PGA Tour pros, that will come with a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Harbour Town Golf Links for the RBC Heritage, a signature event with no cut and $20M on the line. Justin Thomas is the defending champ in the field of 82 pros playing at the course with doglegs and overhanging trees ending at tiny greens. There are some faces, however, that won’t be challenging him this week.

Justin Rose

Justin Rose finished his last week at Augusta National with a T3, the fourth in his career. While it was given that this recent heartbreak would bother him for some time to come, it was still a surprise when he withdrew from the RBC Heritage on Monday. Although Rose did not give any reason for this withdrawal, several sources confirmed the same. Michael Thorbjornsen will replace him for the week.

Meanwhile, Rose last competed at the RBC Heritage in 2025, finishing T42. His previous records look like this: T44 (2024), T25 (2023), and T14 (2020). Not a stellar record, but the English pro will be missed this week anyway. On the other hand, this season, Rose has given mixed results, winning once, registering one other top 10, and missing the cut in three other events.

Rory McIlroy will also be absent from the field this week after his Masters win, although he has only played this tournament two times.

Rory McIlroy

As mentioned before, McIlroy has only played the RBC Heritage two times in his career, so his absence isn’t a surprise. And the Northern Irish pro has often opted to miss the event next week after the Masters to fully recover. So, it’s hardly a surprise that he is missing this week, although this marks the first signature event of the season he has been absent from.

McIlroy has competed in the event just twice in his career, in 2009 and 2020. But controversy arose in 2023 when he skipped it again, as PGA Tour rules at the time permitted players to miss only one big-money “Designated” event. Having already sat out one, he forfeited $3 million from his Player Impact Program payout that season.

But the rules have changed since, and that means McIlroy can elect to play out of signature events.

Hideki Matsuyama

The world no. 14th, along with Rory McIlroy (world No. 2), is the only top-30 pro absent from the RBC Heritage this week. Performance-wise, Hideki Matsuyama’s 2026 season has a positive sign that the Japanese pro is trending in the right direction.

Just last week, he finished T12 in the field at Augusta. Before that, he played in eight PGA Tour events, making the cut in all of them but registering only two top-10s. If you’re considering his stats, it also leaves much to be desired. On the PGA Tour, he ranks 17th in SG: Tee to Green, 15th in SG: Approach the Green, and 46th in SG: Putting.

Adam Scott

Before we talk about his absence, here’s one cool fact about Adam Scott. The 2013 Masters champ made his 98th consecutive start in a major last week at Augusta. With two more starts, he would join Jack Nicklaus as a pro who had made 100 straight starts in a major. There’s no doubt that he would be in the field for the PGA Championship, but the problem comes with the U.S. Open, for which Scott has yet to qualify.

Meanwhile, when we talk about stepping away from an event, Scott has been here before this season. At the 2026 Cognizant Classic, the former Masters champ withdrew from the event before it began. That would have been his first presence at PGA National since 2021.

On the other hand, his results at the RBC Heritage have not been very promising. In 2025, he finished T49, and in 2023, T31. Sure, Scott’s 2026 Masters finish was plenty promising (T24), but he won’t be missed this week.

Jake Knapp

Might be a surprise why Jake Knapp, ranked 11th in the FedExCup, isn’t on the field this season, but it was the same case last season as well. Knapp last played in the RBC Heritage in 2024, where he finished T62. Not very promising, but Knapp’s 2026 has given his fans some hope.

Last week, he finished solo 11th at the Masters, which means the pro will be in the field of the 2027 Masters. He also led last week’s field at the Masters in SG. Off the Tee, plus second in driving distance and 20th in driving accuracy. He also finished in the top 20s in SG: Putting and SG: Tee to Green. So, the positive signs are there.

Meanwhile, this season, Knapp has made 8 starts on the PGA Tour and missed the cut only once. He has finished top 10 in 5 other events, with his best coming at the Farmers Insurance Open (T5) early this season.