Rory McIlroy Skips Travelers Championship After T32 U.S. Open Finish

Q: McIlroy beat many past champions at brutal Shinnecock. Was his performance a failure or a promising warm-up for The Open?

It was more a promising warm-up for The Open than a failure, even if it was clearly a disappointing U.S. Open result. On the narrow question of contending at Shinnecock, McIlroy fell short. He opened with a 69 and briefly looked capable of making a run, but his tournament effectively unraveled on the back nine Saturday. His own verdict was blunt: “The wheels came off.” A tie for 32nd at 6 over is not the standard he sets for himself, especially as the world No. 2 and a six-time major champion. But context matters. Shinnecock Hills was one of the week’s harshest tests, and McIlroy still outlasted several former U.S. Open champions, including Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and J.J. Spaun, all of whom missed the cut. That does not make his finish a success, but it does show he handled a brutal setup better than many elite peers. More importantly for July, McIlroy himself saw Shinnecock as useful preparation because its firm, fast, windswept, links-like demands were “not too dissimilar to an Open Championship.” That matters given his plan to skip the Travelers and focus on links golf before The Open, which he won in 2014. So the fairest reading is this: as a U.S. Open bid, it was a missed opportunity; as a tune-up for The Open, it was encouraging. He did not leave with momentum on the leaderboard, but he did leave with competitive reps on the kind of course and in the kind of conditions that should suit him next month.

Q: With the PGA Tour's new two-tier model, is the dream of the underdog golfer now officially over?

No. The PGA Tour’s proposed two-tier model makes the underdog path narrower and more structured, but it does not end it. The key change is that from 2028 the Tour is expected to split into a top “Track 1” and a lower “Track 2,” with promotion and relegation built in. The current plan would keep roughly the top 90 players in Track 1, while about 20 to 30 players each year could move up from Track 2, with additional places available through the DP World Tour. That is a real pathway, and Tour executives have framed it as a return to “competitive meritocracy.” What changes is the nature of the dream. Instead of a looser system where a hot stretch could quickly change a career, advancement may depend more on sustained results over a season. Reports suggest no midseason promotions and no sponsor exemptions into the top tier, which could make sudden breakthroughs harder. Financially and in prestige, Track 2 is also likely to sit well below Track 1, prompting Rory McIlroy to describe it as a “glorified Korn Ferry event.” Still, golf remains unusually open compared with many sports. Majors, open qualifying routes and promotion systems continue to give lesser-known players chances to break through. Recent surprise winners and stories such as Michael Block show that one exceptional week can still change a career. So the underdog story is not over. It is becoming less romantic, more bureaucratic and probably more difficult, but still possible.

3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Jun 22

Tied for 32nd at 6 over, Rory McIlroy said he will skip next week's Travelers Championship and instead play links golf ahead of July's Open Championship.
73-73 weekend rounds ended any late U.S. Open push after McIlroy reached 2 under on Saturday, when he said "the wheels came off" on the back nine.
Shinnecock Hills still offered useful preparation, McIlroy said, because the course played similarly to an Open Championship setup over the weekend.
The 37-year-old Northern Irishman won the Open in 2014 and said this stretch is his favorite time to return home and prepare on links courses.