Rory McIlroy got £2.2m fine after pulling out of event as star comes in for criticism

was fined £2.2million after skipping two Signature Events on the in 2023. The Masters champion has but will avoid a fine even though it will be the third Signature Event he has missed this season.

The Memorial Tournament marks the seventh Signature Event of the year, with the final one - the Travelers Championship - taking place next month. Each tournament offers a huge prize pot, with the winner of the Memorial Tournament earning themselves a cool £2.65m. Players are no longer fined for missing Signature Events. But a couple of years ago, players were hit with a financial sanction if they missed more than one.

In 2023, McIlroy skipped The Sentry and the RBC Heritage. And when golf stars were handed their Player Impact Program (PIP) money, the Northern Irishman had £2.2m docked from it. He was ultimately left with just shy of £9m to soften the blow.

The Memorial Tournament is a huge event and is hosted by legendary golf star Jack Nicklaus. McIlroy has never won the event but has featured at the tournament in each of the last seven years.

He will return to action at the RBC Canadian Open in early June, before taking his place at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club a week later.

This year's Memorial Tournament has been brought forward a week, with McIlroy explaining last year: "This is more than a tune-up for the US Open.

"This is a huge tournament, with the host being arguably the greatest player ever to play the game, so it needs to stand on its own a little bit."

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be attempting to defend his title after getting the better of Collin Morikawa a year ago.

for his decision to withdraw from the event, with @CitizenF__ writing on X (formerly Twitter): "Rory missing his third Signature Event this year. Very disrespectful to Mr Nicklaus for him to not be playing this."

Meanwhile, @TitanCat007 penned: "Disrespecting the greatest player ever...host Jack Nicklaus."

And @Luke87743946 added: "The USA share of the world golf market is 55 per cent. Canada is around 14 per cent. So, I used to like Rory, but this is a real slap in the face to the largest consumers of golf equipment and PGA venues etc. Bad move."