McIlroy to skip Sawgrass to stay fresh for US Open

TIGER WOODS has yet to say whether he will be fit enough for the Players Championship next week but Rory McIlroy has confirmed he will not be taking part in golf’s richest event.

Like world number one Lee Westwood, birthday boy McIlroy — 22 yesterday — is controversially giving the €6.3million Sawgrass tournament a miss.

And that is despite the fact that he has flown to the States this week to defend the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte.