Rory McIlroy is preparing for the PGA Championship by following Jack Nicklaus' advice and scouting Aronimink Golf Club. After winning his sixth major at the Masters, McIlroy is focused on maintaining his successful game plan.
Key points
Rory McIlroy is following Jack Nicklaus' advice.
He won his sixth major championship at the Masters.
The PGA Championship starts on May 14, 2026.
McIlroy scouted Aronimink Golf Club for the tournament.
He spent five hours on the course during his scouting trip.
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA. — Rory McIlroy made several trips to Augusta National in the month prior to the Masters to hone his game plan for the season's first major championship.
Worked out pretty well for the Jupiter resident, who slipped on the Green Jacket for the second consecutive year.
The clubhouse at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
Similar to his schedule when he flew to Augusta before the Masters.
That also allowed McIlroy to fly home from Charlotte, after the May 10 final round of the Truist Championship, and spend the night with his family before heading to Pennsylvania the next night.
"I wanted to just get an early look (at Aronimink) because I knew that was going to be my only opportunity to do so," McIlroy said. "It also gives me the ability to go home on Sunday night, see (wife) Erica and (daughter) Poppy and then come up here and not feel stressed about having to play a lot of holes or get up here early. I can take more of a relaxed approach going into the week."
Rory McIlroy's plan came on advice from Jack Nicklaus
McIlroy's scouting trips to courses holding majors that he's unfamiliar with started in 2011 before the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
Rory McIlroy hits a tee shot on the ninth hole during the final round of the 2026 Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
Rory McIlroy hits a tee shot on the ninth hole during the final round of the 2026 Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
That strategy came on the advice of Jack Nicklaus, who soon after would be seeing a lot of McIlroy after the Northern Irishman moved to Palm Beach County.
Nicklaus, who lives in North Palm Beach, said he often would arrive at a big tournament a week early to prepare physically and mentally. It allowed him to relax.
No one will argue with a strategy that helped Nicklaus win a record 18 majors.
And certainly not McIlroy, who now lives in Nicklaus' Bear's Club.
"I definitely think courses we don't see very often … it certainly has benefited me over the years," said the 37-year-old McIlroy, who played Aronimink once before, the 2018 BMW Championship. "Some majors, I haven't went to the tournament site ahead of schedule, and I've done well. But for the most part when I have made an advance trip, it's worked out well for me."
Nicklaus, 86, was dishing that advice long before McIlroy arrived on the golf scene. And into this world.
In 1965, Jack told Gary Player he should play at Bellerive Country Club in Missouri before the U.S. Open. Player took Nicklaus' advice, arrived a week early and won in a playoff over Kel Nagle to complete the career Grand Slam.
Nicklaus started the practice of preparing in 1961 when he was told by Deane Beman he should "walk off" Pebble Beach before playing the U.S. Amateur. Nicklaus said when he got to the tournament, "all these guys who got there on Monday were going through all the ‘how do I do this, how do I do that?’" he told GOLF.com. "I was under par every single round at Pebble Beach and I won the tournament.”
DUBLIN, OHIO - JUNE 04: Jack Nicklaus shakes hands with Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland on the 18th green during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 04, 2023 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
DUBLIN, OHIO - JUNE 04: Jack Nicklaus shakes hands with Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland on the 18th green during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 04, 2023 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
When it came to the majors, Nicklaus said he would usually go 10 days early to prepare.
"For example, every year at Augusta, I would go a week early and play 72 holes, keeping score the whole time just to see what I would shoot," he said. "I remember the year I broke the Masters scoring record in 1965, I shot 276 the week before and then shot 271 during the tournament."
McIlroy invited to state dinner at White House by Donald Trump
McIlroy's trip to Aronimink was possible because of a post-Masters schedule in which he took off three weeks before the Truist. He was in contention entering the weekend at Quail Hollow before a 75 in the third round knocked him back. He recovered to shoot 67 in the final round and finish T18.
He said he struggled with the same swing flaw he battled at the Masters — McIlroy lost a six-shot lead after two rounds at Augusta and was tied with Cameron Young entering the final round — a tendency to get the club swinging too far in-to-out through impact.
“That's sort of my bad habit at the minute and I just have to be aware of it and I was much more aware of it and did a better job of managing it (in the final round at Truist),” he said.
Otherwise, McIlroy's time between majors included being invited by President Donald Trump to a state dinner at the White House to honor Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla — ironically it is why he skipped the Cadillac Championship at Trump's course at Doral — and revealing he and Erica made a brief appearance in the movie "The Devil Wears Prada 2," which hit theaters on May 1.
Northern Irish professional golfer Rory McIlroy attends a State Dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to honor Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 28, 2026. (Photo by Henry Nicholls / AFP via Getty Images)
Northern Irish professional golfer Rory McIlroy attends a State Dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to honor Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 28, 2026. (Photo by Henry Nicholls / AFP via Getty Images)
Director David Frankel offered the role after hearing McIlroy say he watched "The Devil Wears Prada" to calm his nerves before winning the 2025 Players Championship in a Monday playoff.
"I know how fortunate I am and so lucky to be in this position in life, and sometimes you have to enjoy the perks because I know that this isn't going to last forever," McIlroy said. "There's going to be a day where I'm not sitting up here and I'm not competing for major championships and I'm not doing what I'm doing.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
