Jack Nicklaus backing Rory McIlroy’s decision to miss Memorial

Jack Nicklaus has backed Rory McIlroy’s decision to miss this week’s Memorial Tournament and predicted the world number one will not do so too often in the future.

With Nicklaus founding and hosting the event at Muirfield Village, most of the world’s top players usually make the trip to Ohio to effectively pay tribute to the 18-time major winner.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are all in the field, while Players Championship winner Rickie Fowler is also competing.