Rory McIlroy Set To Miss RBC Canadian Open

Rory McIlroy at The Players Championship — Rory McIlroy is expected to skip the RBC Canadian Open

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The PGA Tour’s one trip north of the US border in 2026 comes with the RBC Canadian Open, which takes place between June 11th and 14th.

However, one player who appears set to skip this year’s edition, which will be held at TPC Toronto, is two-time winner Rory McIlroy.

A media day for the tournament was held by officials on Monday, where big names to appear were confirmed, including Matt Fitzpatrick, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa, but McIlroy wasn’t among them.

Players have until Friday June 5th to enter, so there’s still a chance McIlroy will commit, although tournament director Ryan Paul revealed he is satisfied with the quality of the field, regardless of what McIlroy chooses to do.

He said: “We’d obviously love to have him and if he commits, that would be phenomenal, but right now we are beyond pleased with the quality of names that are highlighting our crop of players this year.”

Nevertheless, it seems likely McIlroy will opt against appearing at the event, despite playing in the previous five editions.

McIlroy won the RBC Canadian Open in his maiden appearance in 2019, when he cruised to victory by seven over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

Rory McIlroy with the RBC Canadian Open trophy — Rory McIlroy won the title in his maiden appearance

The tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he returned in 2022 to defend his title and beat Tony Finau by two.

McIlroy performed well in his next two appearances as well, placing T9 in 2023 and T4 in 2024. However, in 2025, he endured a torrid eight-over par 78 in the second round on the way to missing the cut at the same venue as this year's edition.

If McIlroy does skip the event, which comes one week before the US Open, it would be in keeping with his preparations for April’s Masters, where he didn’t play in the weeks leading up to the Major.

Rory McIlroy at the RBC Canadian Open — Rory McIlroy claimed the title for the second time three years later

McIlroy stepped away for almost a month after appearing at The Players Championship, instead using the time to visit Augusta National as part of his preparations. The tactic clearly worked, as McIlroy secured back-to-back titles at the event.

It’s been a similar story for McIlroy since that achievement, where he will only return to competitive action one week before the PGA Championship when he plays in the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow, where he has won four times.

While McIlroy seems unlikely to appear at the RBC Canadian Open, plenty of other big names will be joining Fitzpatrick, Koepka and Morikawa at the event.

They include Tommy Fleetwood, Sam Burns, Jacob Bridgeman and Lowry as well as Canadians Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith and Nick Taylor.

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Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.