Rory McIlroy to acknowledge Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s absence from the Champions Dinner. The Northern Irish golfer will host his first Champions Dinner for the past winners of the Masters on Tuesday. The traditional dinner is only attended by past winners. However, this year, Woods and Mickelson are set to miss it.
At Monday’s Drive, Chip, and Putting event, McIlroy opened up about his Champions Dinner and talked about the absence of Woods and Mickelson. He said that he wants to make sure to “acknowledge” the absence of the legendary golfers.
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“Unfortunately, there will be a couple of guys that won’t be in that room, which is a shame, but I want to make sure that they’re acknowledged as well. They’ve been two of the greatest champions that the Masters has ever seen.”
Phil Mickelson withdrew from the Masters last week to focus on his family’s health. He has been away from the field for a while and has only played in one LIV Golf event this season.
Meanwhile, joining the list of absentees at the Masters is Tiger Woods. The American golfer had an accident last month, following which he released a statement on his X (formerly Twitter) account that he would be stepping away from the game for a “period of time.” He is looking forward to treatment and will not be playing at the Masters.
Rory McIlroy “ready” to defend his Masters title
Rory McIlroy is looking forward to defending his title at the Masters and opened up ahead of the event on Monday. He talked about his Champions Dinner and the tournament.
“It’s going to be a really cool night. I can’t wait,” McIlroy said. “I hope everyone enjoys the dinner and enjoys everything that I’ve selected. Hopefully we won’t stay too long, and I’ll be ready to go. I may be not as fresh on Wednesday morning, but Thursday, I’ll be ready to go.”
This season has been decent so far for Rory McIlroy. He started the campaign with a T14 finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he carded rounds of 68, 67, 72, and 64. He was then runner-up at the Genesis Invitational, where he played rounds of 66, 65, 69, and 67.
However, McIlroy had a tough time playing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he struggled with an injury and withdrew from the game after playing two rounds of 72 and 68. He then finished T46 at The Players Championship.
Rory McIlroy has not played since The Players, and it would be interesting to see how things will unfold for him at the Masters. The first major of the year is scheduled to take place from April 9 to 12.
Edited by Ankita Yadav
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