{"id":416749,"date":"2026-04-25T10:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T10:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416749\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T10:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T10:59:10","slug":"rory-mcilroy-opts-to-skip-20m-signature-event-at-donald-trumps-blue-monster-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416749\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy opts to skip $20m signature event at Donald Trump\u2019s Blue Monster course"},"content":{"rendered":"

The six-time Major winner opted not to play the RBC Heritage the week after his second win at Augusta National.<\/p>\n

But his absence from the entry list for next week\u2019s inaugural $20million Cadillac Championship at US President Donald Trump\u2019s Blue Monster course at Doral has raised some eyebrows.<\/p>\n

It possibly indicates that McIlroy plans to be even more selective about his tournament starts as he seeks to peak for more Major wins.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy has opted out of the Cadillac Championship at Donald Trump’s course (Mike Ehrmann\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

News in 90 Seconds – April 25th 2026<\/p>\n

He also celebrates his 37th birthday the Monday after the Doral event, which hosted the WGC-Cadillac Championship from 2007 to 2016.<\/p>\n

The Florida tournament will be Shane Lowry\u2019s next start after his rollercoaster season took another stomach-churning dive in Louisiana last night.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy is presented with with the green jacket after retaining his Masters title at Augusta National<\/p>\n

The Offaly man and playing partner Brooks Koepka missed the cut in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where they were amongst the pre-tournament favourites<\/p>\n

An opening six under 66 in the fourballs left them struggling to make the top 33 teams and ties who made the cut, and in the end, they finished one stroke outside the mark on nine under par last night after carding a three under 69 in the foursomes.<\/p>\n

To rub salt in the wound, they were playing alongside Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex, who shot a sparkling 65 to end the day in a three-way tie for second on 15-under, a shot behind leaders Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer, who shot a modest 70.<\/p>\n

Lowry had a chance to get his new partner, a replacement for McIlroy, into the weekend when Koepka hit a brilliant shot at the par-three ninth, their final hole.<\/p>\n

But Lowry\u2019s tricky ten-footer never threatened the hole, and Seamus Power and his German playing partner Matti Schmid now hold the Irish interest heading into the weekend.<\/p>\n

After opening with a 63, they shot a four under 68 in the foursomes to go into the weekend with a chance of victory.<\/p>\n

At 13-under, they’re just two shots behind Smalley and Springer in the race for a pay cheque for $1,372,750 each, 400 FedEx Cup points and a two-year exemption at a time when only the top 100 players are exempt.<\/p>\n

With the surviving 35 teams covered by just six shots, Power and Schmid will be looking for better than their opening 63 in today’s fourball round alongside Ben Martin and Trace Crow.<\/p>\n

Lowry and Koepka weren\u2019t the only notable team to miss the cut in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Tony Finau and Max Greyserman also finished on nine under, while Michael Brennan and Johnny Keefer \u2013 who shot an 11-under 61 in the opening round \u2013 struggled to a 75 in the foursomes to miss out.<\/p>\n

At the Chevron Championship, it’s also a weekend off for Leona Maguire for the fourth time in eight starts this season and the fifth time in her last 11 Majors.<\/p>\n

Two rounds of 76 left her six shots outside the cut mark on eight over and a long way off the pace set by Nelly Korda.<\/p>\n

The two-time Major winner shot a brace of 65s to lead by six strokes at Memorial Park in Houston from 2021 Chevron Championship winner Patty Tavatanakit.<\/p>\n

Maguire\u2019s lack of length was a disadvantage at a course that even a big hitter like Tavatanakit found demanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s playing really long, so overall I’m really happy with where I’m at,\u201d the Thai said after carding a bogey-free 69 last night, averaging 262 yards off the tee to Maguire\u2019s 242 yards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The six-time Major winner opted not to play the RBC Heritage the week after his second win at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7938,969,61,60,1394,112],"class_list":["post-416749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-brian-keogh","tag-donald-trump","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}