Rory McIlroy will play The Memorial, the RBC Canadian Open, US Open and Travelers Championship in successive weeks on the PGA Tour this June; Watch McIlroy in action all four weeks live on Sky Sports Golf
Thursday 1 June 2023 09:00, UK
Rory McIlroy starts a busy run of four consecutive events this week at The Memorial, with the world No 3 looking for signs of progress ahead of a packed summer schedule.
McIlroy began 2023 as world No 1 after topping the season-long standings on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour the previous campaign, then opened his year with victory at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic before suffering a drop in form and results in recent months.
The 33-year-old lost top spot when Scottie Scheffler defended his WM Phoenix Open title and fell further behind when Jon Rahm won the Genesis Invitational a week later, with McIlroy finishing outside of the top-25 in both events as issues started to emerge.
McIlroy had struggled with a replacement driver at Riviera and then switched putters after an early exit at The Players, although showed noticeable improvements in both areas during his run to the semi-finals at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
He went into The Masters as pre-tournament favourite but saw his career Grand Slam bid end with a second missed cut in three years at Augusta National, with McIlroy then skipping the RBC Heritage ahead of a disappointing performance at the Wells Fargo Championship.
McIlroy had few expectations going into the PGA Championship, although a tied-seventh finish - where he was nowhere near his best - gave him plenty to be positive about going into a key stretch of the season.
"I feel like I need my best stuff to win, but you know, I don't need my best stuff to compete and hang in there," McIlroy said after the second major of the year, "I need to be better."
McIlroy opens his four-week stint at The Memorial, live on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday, which is an event where he has registered four career top-10s but has finished no higher than 18th in his previous four visits to Muirfield Village.
The 34-year-old's following start will be at the RBC Canadian Open, where McIlroy will be chasing a historic third consecutive win after following a dominant seven-shot win in 2019 with a successful title defence last year.
McIlroy will have another chance to end his winless major run at the US Open from June 15-18, some 12 years on from winning his breakthrough major victory in the event, with the tournament heading to Los Angeles Country Club for the first time.
A busy stretch ends with a trip to the Travelers Championship from June 22-25, one of the PGA Tour's elevated events and a tournament where McIlroy has posted top-20 finishes in all four appearances.
He will then have at least a fortnight away from competitive action before featuring at the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club from July 13-16 - an event he skipped in 2022 - ahead of teeing it up at The 151st Open the following week.
The final major of the year takes place at Royal Liverpool for the first time since 2014, when he claimed a two-shot victory, with McIlroy hoping for a repeat performance as he looks to lift the Claret Jug for a second time.
McIlroy has yet to confirm his post-Open schedule but is likely to sit out of the next two events before the FedExCup playoffs, which begin with the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind from August 10-13.
The BMW Championship takes place at Olympia Field Country Club a week later, with McIlroy hoping to be in the top 30 in the FedExCup standings to feature in the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club from August 24-27.
Following the FedExCup playoffs, McIlroy will return back to Europe and has confirmed he will play back-to-back DP World Tour events, starting at the Horizon Irish Open from September 7-10 before the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth a week later.
McIlroy will then take a week to prepare for an expected seventh consecutive Ryder Cup appearance for Team Europe from September 29-October 1, where he will be hoping to help Luke Donald's side regain the trophy at Marco Simone Golf Club.
Watch Rory McIlroy in PGA Tour and DP World Tour action throughout the year live on Sky Sports! McIlroy features at The Memorial, live from June 1-4 on Sky Sports Golf
