6x Major Champion Rory McIlroy’s Practice Before 2026 PGA Championship Cut Short by Toe Blister

Rory McIlroy will be making his 18th start at the PGA Championship this week, having won the tournament in 2012 and 2014.

6x Major Champion Rory McIlroy’s Practice Before 2026 PGA Championship Cut Short by Toe Blister

Rory McIlroy (Image via X/@DPWorldTour)

Ahead of the 2026 PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy‘s practice round on Tuesday was cut short. As per reports, the 6-time major champion cut down his nine-hole practice round after just three holes due to a toe blister.

This was something that he had been dealing with since last week. In his first start since the 2026 Masters Tournament win at the Truist Championship, the World No.2 revealed that he had a blister under his toenail.

While speaking with the reporters, the Northern Irish golfer revealed that he had completely ripped off the nail on his right pinky toe. On Tuesday, he removed his right shoe several times before cutting his practice session short. Fans following McIlroy’s performance can track live updates on FanDuel golf scoring as the tournament progresses.

McIlroy would also miss the PGA Champions Dinner hosted by reigning champion Scottie Scheffler. He was one of the notable misses in a group that featured several former winners, including the likes of Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, and Keegan Bradley.

McIlroy’s toe blister is not expected to be serious enough to force him to withdraw from the event. However, this issue is concerning him as he was seen limping last week at the Truist Championship.

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Rory McIlroy claims he knew LIV Golf was in trouble

In the past few weeks, LIV Golf has been in the center stage following the big move by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). While speaking with the reporters in the pre-tournament press conference, Rory McIlroy claimed that he knew the breakaway tour was in trouble.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Image via Imago)

The LIV Golf, which was founded in 2021, was backed financially by the PIF of Saudi Arabia. In April, after the Masters Tournament, reports emerged that the PIF was pulling the plug on LIV Golf.

After a few days of speculations and rumors, LIV Golf confirmed this by announcing a change in leadership. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who served as the chairman of the league, stepped down from his post near the end of April.

In June 2023, Al-Rumayyan had shocked the world. He appeared alongside PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan to reveal a merger. Since then, there have been several talks about a potential reunification of the game.

During this, McIlroy once advocated for the PGA Tour to have a deal with the PIF. With the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia withdrawing their funding from LIV, Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig brought up this question. The journalist asked McIlroy for his thoughts regarding this.

The former World No.1 claimed that he was happy to be wrong about it. He then expressed that many people, including him, knew something like this could happen.

I think it was always a possibility to happen. … I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen. Like I was hearing about this back in March, April time.

Rory McIlroy said

Following this move, there are some dark clouds looming over LIV Golf’s future. While CEO Scott O’Neil is confident about them moving forward without the financial backing of the Saudis, some golfers have reportedly started to reach out to the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour about a potential return.

However, there are some who do not want to return to the Tour. Last week, Anirban Lahiri pointed out that he knew around a dozen golfers who would rather retire than return to the PGA Tour.

His teammate and Crushers GC captain, Bryson DeChambeau, is likely one of them. In a conversation with ESPN, the 2-time major champion claimed he will focus on growing his YouTube channel if the league folds after the 2026 season.

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