Jack Nicklaus won't be seeing Rory McIlroy at Muirfield Village Golf Club this year, and though the Masters champion's decision took him by surprise, he doesn't begrudge him for taking the week off.

McIlroy elected to sit out the Memorial Tournament this year and is in the field for next week's RBC Canadian Open instead.

The Northern Irishman prefers to play the week before a major championship, and the Memorial and Canadian flipped places on the calendar this year, so that the former could be right on the heels of Memorial Day as it used to be and the latter can lead directly into the U.S. Open.

Nicklaus, speaking with reporters Tuesday in Dublin, Ohio, said he didn't have a conversation with McIlroy about his choice to skip the Memorial and he found out in the middle of last week.

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