Rory McIlroy was forced to go barefoot before leaving his PGA Championship practice round early on Tuesday, May 12.
“I’ve got a blister on my pinky toe on my right foot,” McIlroy, 37, told reporters before his round.
That became evident during his round on Tuesday, when McIlroy was seen taking off his right shoe and sock to let things air out before ultimately leaving the course on a cart after just three holes.
Prior to that, McIlroy was in obvious discomfort as he limped his way around Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
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“It’s underneath my nail,” McIlroy explained before he hit the course. “I can’t really get to it, so it’s a little sore. But I’ll be all right.”
The back-to-back Masters champion said the blister formed on Friday, May 8, while playing in the Truist Championship.
According to ESPN, McIlroy told members of the Irish media that he “had since removed the nail on his pinky toe and would be sizing up in shoes to try to limit the discomfort.”
McIlroy’s status for the opening round of the 2026 PGA Championship remains unclear. He is scheduled to tee off at 8:40 a.m. ET with Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm. Optimistically, McIlroy hit the course for his practice round on Wednesday, May 13, seemingly without much issue.
Despite the toe injury, McIlroy said he’s feeling more at ease entering this year’s tournament than he did last year at Quail Hollow, which came on the heels of McIlroy completing the career grand slam with his victory at the 2025 Masters.
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“I think I came into this tournament last year a little bit sort of uncertain of what my future was — just like I conquered this thing that I wanted to conquer for so long, and I still hadn’t really reset goals or found whatever that motivation was to keep going or go forward and set myself goals for the rest of my career,” McIlroy told reporters on Tuesday. “Coming into this tournament feels a lot different than what it did last year. I feel like I’ve got some nice clear road ahead to try to get some more of these majors.”
McIlroy is a six-time major champion, taking home the PGA Championship in 2012 and 2014.
“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,” McIlroy acknowledged.
He added, “But there’s still a lot of things I want to achieve.”
