While the Travelers Championship teed off at TPC River Highlands on Thursday, Rory McIlroy was nowhere near Connecticut. The six-time major champion was on the other side of the Atlantic ahead of The Open Championship, and he ran into Sir Nick Faldo along the way.

McIlroy was spotted at Royal Birkdale on June 25, 2026. He was getting in an early look at the course three weeks before golf's oldest major. Sir Nick Faldo was on site doing prep work for Sky Sports and stopped McIlroy for an impromptu interview on the course.

"It's good to get up here and play early," McIlroy told Faldo as reported by GolfMagic. "I've been trying to do that at every major championship, which is working out for me."

This meticulous pre-major scouting routine mimics the exact blueprint that fueled his success earlier this spring. He had spent weeks flying back and forth to Georgia to master the greens before successfully defending his Masters title 

During the interview, as published by GolfMagic, he noted the fifth hole, a driveable par-four, looked visibly different from when he last played an Open at Royal Birkdale nine years ago.

McIlroy's visit to Birkdale comes as he sits out the Travelers Championship. It was the final signature event of the 2025-26 season and the third signature event he has skipped this year.

His decision comes down to personal lifestyle changes, as McIlroy recently relocated his family to a permanent summer home in London to cut back on exhausting transatlantic flights.

He has played nine PGA Tour events in 2026: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players, Masters, Truist Championship, PGA Championship, Memorial, and the U.S. Open.

PGA Tour players must play at least 15 tournaments in 2027 to keep their membership. McIlroy's agent, Sean O'Flaherty, told Bob Harig of The Daily Drive that McIlroy has no plans to give up his PGA Tour membership.

Rory McIlroy's road to Royal Birkdale

McIlroy will next play in the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. The tournament takes place one week before The Open.

 In 2017, the last time The Open was held at Royal Birkdale, Jordan Spieth won the Claret Jug, and McIlroy finished tied for fourth.

McIlroy successfully defended his Masters title earlier this year, joining Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Faldo as the only golfers to defend the green jacket. A second major of 2026 and a seventh overall is now on the line at Birkdale.

The membership question, however, will not go away.

McIlroy needs 15 PGA Tour starts to retain his card for 2027. He currently has nine. The Scottish Open and The Open will bring him to 11. Even if he plays all three FedEx Cup playoff events in August, he would still fall short of the threshold, per reporting by Ben Smith of Golfweek.

What do you think about McIlroy's decision to skip the Travelers Championship? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi