Rory McIlroy: PGA golfer withdrew from RBC Heritage for “mental and wellbeing” reasons - wife, net worth explained

McIlroy will make first return to competition since August at this week’s Well Fargo Championship
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The World number three pulled out of the RBC Heritage event last month and at the time, no reason was given for his absence. However, a month on and Rory McIlroy has said that his ‘mental and emotional wellbeing’ took a hit following a disappointment tournament at The Masters in Augusta.

McIlroy said that he had allowed himself to think about becoming just the sixth person to win all four majors when he attended August, but the professional golfer failed to make the halfway cut with Jon Rahm ultimately crowned the 2023 champion.

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The 33-year-old from Northern Ireland is returning to competitive action this weekend as he aims to win the Wells Fargo Championship for a fourth time. He has won at Quail Hollow in 2010, 2015 and 2021 and will hope for a strong tournament before a busy scheduled which includes the US PGA Championship and two Open events in the next three months.

Here is all you need to know about what Rory McIlroy said regarding his absence...

What’s been said?

The Northern Irishman was speaking to the Golf Channel and revealed; “I needed a break for me. Obviously, after the disappointment of Augusta, and it’s been a pretty taxing 12 months mentally, so it was just nice to just try to disconnect a little bit and get away from it.

“But it’s nice to come back and feel refreshed and I think we’re on a pretty busy run here from now until after the play-offs so I’m excited to get going. I think it was a combination of a few things and just after the disappointment of Augusta and how I played there, it was just more for my mental and emotional wellbeing I just needed to be at home for those few weeks but, as I said, looking forward to getting back this week.

Rory McIlroy in the first round of The Masters in April 2023Rory McIlroy in the first round of The Masters in April 2023
Rory McIlroy in the first round of The Masters in April 2023
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“I think I’m in a better headspace than I was. Yes, you know, that run-up to Augusta is always a stressful enough couple of weeks trying to make sure everything is in the right order and making sure your game is in good shape. I think for me it was a nice reset because I still had to realise that there are three more majors this year, there is a ton left to play for.”

While McIlroy declined to do any post-round interviews in Augusta he spoke at a promotional event ahead of Wells Fargo admitting he had allowed himself to believe he could become just the sixth person to win all four majors: “Me thinking that way isn’t a good thing. All I should be thinking about is that first shot on Thursday. You need to stay in the present moment and I feel like at Augusta I didn’t quite do a good job of that because of how well I came in playing. I maybe got ahead of myself a little bit.

“It sucked. It’s not the performance I obviously thought I was going to put up. Nor was it the performance I wanted. Just incredibly disappointing. But I needed some time to regroup and focus on what’s ahead.”

What’s next for McIlroy?

Along with his troubles in Augusta, McIlroy has also admitted to feeling ‘gassed’ after a long year of defending the PGA Tour. McIlroy will hope to add to his tally of four majors at the US PGA Championship later this month before taking on the US Open and Open Championships in June and July.

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The last 12 months have seen McIlroy forced to spend much of his time defending the PGA Tour in the face of the breakaway LIV Golf tour and the nearly 34-year-old hopes to be able to focus more on his golf rather than his unwanted role as PGA ambassador: “I wasn’t gassed because of the golf, I was gassed because of everything that we’ve had to deal with in the golf world over the past 12 months and being right in the middle of it and being in that decision-making process.

“I’ve always thought I’ve had a good handle on the perspective of things and where golf fits within my life, but I think over the last 12 months I’d lost sight of that, lost sight of the fact that there’s more to life than the golf world and this silly little squabble that’s going on between tours. And I think once I disconnected from it a little bit, I could see things a little clearer and where everything fits. I guess that was a good reset.”

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