Jack Nicklaus admitted he was surprised that Rory McIlroy was not competing in his Memorial Tournament this week, but insisted he remained “a big fan” of the Masters champion.

McIlroy is skipping Nicklaus’ annual event at Muirfield Village for the first time since 2017, meaning he will not have contested three of the PGA Tour’s Signature Events so far this season.

The world number two did not enter the season-opening Sentry tournament in Hawaii and also passed on the RBC Heritage, although that was the week after winning the Masters to join Nicklaus as one of just six players to have completed a career grand slam.

Asked at his traditional pre-tournament press conference for his reaction to McIlroy’s absence, Nicklaus said: “Yeah, it surprised me.

“But, you know, guys have got schedules and got things they do. And, you know, I haven’t talked to him for him to tell me why or why not. It’s just his call.

“I made a lot of calls that I had to make when I played to play or not play and sometimes it wasn’t as popular as people thought it was. But, you know, sometimes you have to make those calls.

“I don’t hold anything against Rory for that. He did what he likes to play. I know he likes to play so many in a row.

“He likes to play the week before a US Open. And so he…that’s what he’s doing. So, you know, I really don’t have a comment on it.

“It’s very difficult, very difficult. I mean, I’m a big Rory fan, I always have been. I’m sure that I will remain that way. I just, I was a little surprised, yes.”

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Nicklaus had lunch with McIlroy ahead of the Masters and gave his seal of approval to the Northern Irishman’s shot-by-shot plan to tackle Augusta National, a plan which ultimately paid off with a play-off victory over Justin Rose following a rollercoaster final round.

“After the Masters I dropped him a note and I told him, ‘I don’t think anybody’s won by having four double bogeys’,” Nicklaus added.

“And I said, ‘but that just showed me how much talent you have to overcome that to win and how you played some unbelievably spectacular shots, such as the iron at seven that he hit over the tree that actually hit the tree’.

“The phenomenal iron he hit at 15, the shot he hit at 17. Then, of course, to miss that little short putt at 18…which was not very good. But he played some bad shots. The shot he hit at 13 (into Rae’s Creek), I can’t believe.

“But anyway, you know, I was very happy for him. It was a great win and it got the monkey off his back. And to me, the monkey was not the grand slam. The monkey was the Masters.

“Now, the Grand Slam was a product of winning the Masters. If you ask him which was more important, I think he would have to say the Masters. That’s because it was.”

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