McIlroy checks out Birkdale as PGA Tour hints at 15-event loophole
Rory McIlroy. PIcture: USGA
Rory McIlroy gave the thumbs up to Royal Birkdale after bumping into fellow six-time major winner Nick Faldo on a visit to the Southport venue.
Champion at Royal Liverpool in 2014, the Masters champion ran into three-time Open winner Faldo on his reconnaissance trip this week.
"I've always thought Birkdale is one of the best on the Open rota, so excited to be back,” McIlroy said in a video posted on Faldo’s X account.
"It's good. A little bit different from 2017, the last time we played an Open here. Some different green complexes, different holes.
"The fifth hole I just played is completely different. I like it. A good driveable par four. A bit of a penalty if you got for it and miss.
Doing a bit of fieldwork for Sky Sports at Royal Birkdale, ahead of The Open... and look who I bumped into. 👀 pic.twitter.com/Hqaq8pM7XT
— Sir Nick Faldo (@Sir_NickFaldo) June 25, 2026
"I don't know if the water is quite in play on the right but a lot of big deep bunkers guarding the green."
McIlroy will play in the Genesis Scottish Open before heading to the Southport venue to get some competitive practice, “get a card in my hand, do all that.”
"It's good to get up here and play early. I've been trying to do that at every major championship, which is working out for me,” McIlroy said.
"Try to play a bit of links golf, get used to these conditions again."
By opting not to play this week’s Travelers Championship, a signature event, it appears McIlroy may not reach the required 15-event minimum to retain PGA Tour membership.
A report by Bob Harig on the Daily Drive suggested the Tour could bend the rules to allow McIlroy to escape sanction.
But the PGA Tour got in touch, quoting a condition in the player handbook.
It reads: “Notwithstanding the above, the Commissioner, upon application by a foreign member and for medical reasons or other extraordinary circumstances that the Commissioner, at his discretion, determines to be a valid reason for not playing in at least 15 PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved tournaments, may reduce the 15-minimum (or 12-minimum as the case may be) tournament requirement.”
Leona Maguire, meanwhile, produced one of her gutsiest performances of the season to battle her way inside the cut line at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Minnesota.
The Co Cavan star (31) faced an uphill task at Hazeltine National when she opened with a three-over 75 that left her two strokes outside the top 70 and ties who qualify for the last two rounds,
But displaying the fighting qualities that have made her a two-time LPGA winner and Solheim Cup stalwart, she fired a x-under xx in the second round to sneak inside the projected two-over par cut line.
She sandwiched birdies at the fourth, seventh and eighth between bogeys at the second and ninth to get back to two-over, then came home in xx to card a xx that left her on xxx.
On the DP World Tour, Chile’s Joaquin Niemann added an eight-under 63 to his opening 64 to set the halfway pace in the DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia in Turin.
At 15-under, he leads by two shots from Spain’s Angel Ayora with Tom McKibbin eight shots behind on seven-under after a 67.
