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Jack Nicklaus 'surprised' Rory McIlroy is not playing in Memorial Tournament | Golf Channel

Jack Nicklaus ‘surprised’ Rory McIlroy is not playing in Memorial Tournament | Golf Channel



Jack Nicklaus ‘surprised’ Rory McIlroy is not playing in Memorial Tournament | Golf Channel

WEEK, LET’S SECOND IT DOWN TO TODD LEWIS. >>> THE 50th EDITION OF THE MEMORIAL PRESENTED BY WORKDAY, A TOURNAMENT JACK NICKLAUS WANTED TO BRING BACK TO THE AREA HE GREW UP. HIGH-CLASS TOURNAMENT WITH A HIGH-CLASS FIELD. THE MEMORIAL RECOGNIZES A PERSON WHO IS CONTRIBUTING GREATLY TO THE GAME OF GOLF. THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENT IS JACK’S WIFE, BARBARA, NAMED AS THE FIRST LADY OF GOLF, AND SOMEONE JACK CALLED THE MOST SELFLESS PERSON HE’S EVER KNOWN. >> A SPECIAL PERSON TO ME. YOU UNDERSTAND HOW THAT CAME ABOUT, MY SON, GARY, CAME TO ME, OH, I DON’T KNOW, A COUPLE MONTHS BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT, AND HE SAID, DAD, HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT HONORING MOM? I SAID, NO, IT REALLY HADN’T ENTERED MY MIND, GARY, BUT YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. SHE’S BEEN AS MUCH A PART OF THIS TOURNAMENT AS I HAVE. SHE’S BEEN THE GUIDING LIGHT FOR A GOOD COMMON SENSE AND GOOD JUDGMENT AND, YOU KNOW, THE TOUR WIVES HAVE ALL LOOKED UP TO BARBARA AND WHERE SHE’S GONE AND WHAT SHE’S DONE, AND, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE HAVE COME INTO THIS TOURNAMENT, MANY HAVE COME HERE BECAUSE OF BARBARA. I CALLED JOE DYE — I DIDN’T CALL JOE DYE. I COULDN’T CALL HIM. I CALLED CHARLIE, AND I TALKED TO CHARLIE AND SAID, CHARLIE, IT’S BEEN SUGGESTED. WHAT DO YOU THINK? I HADN’T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT EITHER, BUT YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. AND SO HE CALLED ME BACK THE NEXT DAY. I CANVASSED AND IT WAS UNANIMOUS. I SAID, SO I HAD THE HONOR TO BE ABLE TO ANNOUNCE THAT ON TELEVISION, I COULDN’T GET IT OUT. WHAT BARBARA’S MEANT TO THE TOURNAMENT, WHAT SHE’S MEANT TO ME AND OUR FAMILY, YOU KNOW, VERY, VERY SPECIAL. >> THE CEREMONY WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY AND THEN THURSDAY IT’S ROUND ONE. EIGHT OF THE TOP TEN IN THE WORLD WILL BE COMPETING AT MUIRFIELD VILLAGE. ONE NAME MISSING, PRETTY POWERFUL NAME, MASTERS CHAMPION, RORY McILROY, WILL NOT PLAY IN THE MEMORIAL FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2017. NOW NICKLAUS HAS A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH RORY McILROY, BUT HE SAID HE HAS NOT HAD A CONVERSATION ON WHY RORY IS SKIPPING THIS TOURNAMENT. >> HEY, JACK, TWO SEPARATE THINGS. FIRST, JUST TO CLARIFY, WERE YOU NOT AWARE UNTIL THE REST OF US THAT RORY WASN’T COMING? >> I WAS SORT OF AWARE ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF LAST WEEK. >> AND SO IT SORT OF SURPRISES YOU, I GUESS? >> IT SURPRISED ME BUT, YOU KNOW, GUYS HAVE GOT SCHEDULES, THINGS THEY DO AND I HAVEN’T TALKED TO HIM FOR HIM TO TELL ME WHY OR WHY NOT. YOU KNOW, THAT’S JUST HIS CALL. I MADE A LOT OF CALLS THAT I HAD TO MAKE WHEN I PLAYED TO PLAY OR NOT PLAY AND SOMETIMES IT WASN’T AS POPULAR AS PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS, BUT, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO MAKE THOSE CALLS. I DON’T HOLD ANYTHING AGAINST RORY FOR THAT. HE DID WHAT HE LIKES TO PLAY. HE LIKES TO PLAY SO MANY IN A ROW, THE WEEK BEFORE A U.S. OPEN, AND SO HE — THAT’S WHAT HE’S DOING. I REALLY DON’T HAVE A COMMENT ON IT. IT’S VERY DIFFICULT. I’M A BIG RORY FAN, ALWAYS HAVE BEEN, AND I’M SURE THAT I WILL REMAIN THAT WAY. I JUST AM A LITTLE SURPRISED, YES. >> FOR THOSE IN THE FIELD, THEY WILL FACE YET ANOTHER TOUGH GOLF COURSE SETUP BY JACK NICKLAUS TALKING TO PLAYERS WHO HAVE PLAYED UIRFIELD VILLAGE, THE GREENS ARE FAST AND FIRM AND THE ROUGH IS A UNIFORM 4 INCHES AND VERY, VERY DENSE. WI

Todd Lewis discusses Jack Nicklaus’ comments ahead of the Memorial Tournament, including the selection for the Memorial Honoree and the host’s reaction to Rory McIlroy not playing in the tournament. #GolfChannel #MemorialTournament #PGATour #RoryMcIlroy
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Jack Nicklaus ‘surprised’ Rory McIlroy is not playing in Memorial Tournament | Golf Channel
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  2. Rory stood up for the PGA and others hiding in the rough in full support of them vs LIV. What did he get? Backstabbed by the messiah and others. He has been driven away by the people who "used" him.

  4. Rory limped home at Augusta and played lousy at Quail Hollow…he is not on the heater everyone said he would be on now. He probably needs time off to regroup.

  5. “Hey Jack, will you sit down with me a talk over your thoughts on every shot at Augusta National.”

    “Sure, no problem.”

    …

    “Hey Rory, congrats on that Masters win after our discussion, would you mind playing in my tournament?”

    “No thanks, I’m playing Canada and Hartford.”

  6. Rory will never be the sportsman and man that Jack is. Actions always speak louder than words. Just ask Caroline Wozniak or his current wife.

  7. Il faut cesser de critiquer Rory parce qu’il ne s’est pas adressé aux médias friands de caquets. Scheffler et Dechambeau n’ont pas fait de conférence de presse quand leurs matériels ont été qualifiés non-conformes lors d’un contrôle. Rory n’est pas une girouette mais un sportif.

  8. Jeez, they'll want McIlroy on every night doing the weather soon. FFS is it possible in the social media obsessed age to have 5 minutes to yourself not giving a fuck about anyone else without being badgered to comment on everything!

  10. Royster is the biggest woos of the ages, he couldn't carry Jack's sleeve of nuts. Jack is always candid and honest in his viewpoints. Jack has always been lukewarm and has high praise for rory, but he has indicated close doesn't count and you still have to win inorder to be considered one of the best. Rory is filled with a bit of jealousy and vinegar for Jack's lack of fawning over the ulsterman. Whata twerp; just when you think he has the podium to exalt a grand slam moment, the weasel disses the greatest sportsman ever. Good on ya, chump…

  13. absolutely classless move by McIlroy to not even give Jack a heads up about not playing, especially with it being the 50th Anniversary and Barbara being honored. Selfish little prick!

  14. This is exactly why it was so overboard when the Golf Channel compared Mciroy to Nicklaus during the Masters! Jack is Class. Mciroy has no idea what the word Class Means!!

  15. It's Nicklaus and Palmer who helped build the modern game. It's because of them in large part that Rory is able to enjoy such fame and fortune. What an great honor it would be to play at Bay Hill or the Memorial Tournament. To not even call Jack Nicklaus and express your regrets for not playing in his event after you had committed is inexcusable. Jack Nicklaus deseves much better. Rory, you're no Jack Nicklaus and never will be.

  16. Honoring his wife is pure class. It’s too bad Rory isn’t playing, but it’s ridiculous to badmouth him over it. But haters gotta hate.

  20. Rory is a great golfer. But that is ALL. He manipulates a willing and biased press with his false modesty. He’s aw shucks when he needs to be but a typical European elitist otherwise. It’s been obvious for years to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.

  24. Rory McIlroy skips Jack Nicklaus tournament, doesn't say why , doesn't even have the decency to call Jack , then plays in the next week RBC Candian Open only to NOT make the cut, love the Karma… McIlroy proves once again the kind of person he is when he disrespects Jack Nicklaus.

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