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Golf latest: Rory McIlroy risks upsetting Donald Trump after snubbing Shane Lowry
Reach Daily Express | April 27, 2026 9:40 PM CST

The PGA Tour returns this week with the Cadillac Championship, with a staggering $20million (£14.8m) purse up for grabs. This week marks the Tour's return to the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral, Miami, for the first time in a decade.

However, not all of the world's top players will be in Miami for the signature event. Rory McIlroy will be absent, having also chosen to skip the RBC Heritage recently following his triumphant Masters title defence. Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Bob MacIntyre and Ludvig Aberg are other noteworthy absentees. Nevertheless, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will compete in what could be his final event before his PGA Championship defence, with this season's second major just a fortnight away. Now, Express Sport brings you two of the biggest stories from the world of golf.

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB!Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page McIlroy snubs Trump

The world No. 2 has decided to skip the Cadillac Championship at the President's Miami course. McIlroy made history earlier this month by becoming only the fourth golfer to secure successive victories at the Masters.

After claiming his second Green Jacket, the Northern Irishman opted to take a short break. McIlroy has now confirmed he will miss the Cadillac and the £2.7m prize that would accompany a potential victory. Donald Trump will be left disappointed by the decision, having made clear his wish for McIlroy to compete on the Blue Monster course.

Following McIlroy's second Masters victory, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to send a message to the golf star. He wrote: "Congratulations to Rory McIlroy on another Great Championship, The Masters! He performed tremendously under intense pressure, something which few people would be able to even think about doing. With each year, Rory is becoming more and more a LEGEND! I look forward to watching him compete in two weeks at Doral." Doral is one of 16 golf venues owned by Trump.

Lowry's hand forced after £7.1m snub

Shane Lowry was forced to search for another partner after McIlroy withdrew from the Zurich Classic earlier this month. McIlroy had competed in the New Orleans-based event, where the prize fund stands at £7.1m ($9.5m) this year, alongside Lowry for the previous two years, with the duo securing a victory in 2024.

But following McIlroy's Augusta triumph, Lowry revealed the 36-year-old had told him he planned to skip the Louisiana event in order to recuperate. Left without a partner, the Irishman contacted several golfers who declined, before eventually striking an agreement with five-time major champion Brooks Koepka. Explaining the ordeal that led him to eventually join forces with Koepka, Lowry told The Golf Channel: "I asked about 10 or 12 other guys first, and they all said no. Rory quickly said after last year, I don't think he wanted to come back.

"It wasn't until the end of the year I was doing my schedule, and I was going to add this in, that I knew I needed to start looking for a new teammate. I met Brooks down in Florida at a place where we both practice just after Christmas and mentioned that I might need a partner for New Orleans. He said he'd be up for it and it kind of went from there. I said it to his caddy, Ricky [Elliott], a couple of weeks later. Then I saw Brooks a few weeks after that and said, are we going to tee it up together? And he said yes. So, nice to be here. You have to have multiple majors to be able to team up with me in this tournament. It's good that he said yes."

The deal to pair up was struck with McIlroy present, who sat next to Lowry when the 39-year-old made the offer to the American. However, Lowry would ultimately come up short, with Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex claiming the title.


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