Watch: Throwback to Rory McIlroy’s strange encounter with a rogue squirrel at the Travelers Championship 2018

Rory McIlroy is in Cromwell, Connecticut, this week for the 2023 Travelers Championship, which commences on Thursday, June 22, at the TPC River Highlands.

Although McIlroy never won at the TPC River Highlands, he has played some really good golf there and has also had a few memorable moments at the event. One such incident occurred in the 2018 Travelers Championship when he had to pause for a while due to interference from the local wildlife.

When McIlroy was about to tee off from the first hole of the third day at TPC River Highlands, a squirrel came out of nowhere at the tee box and started having a little fun there. As a result, the former World No. 1 had to wait a brief while to let the squirrel go.

One commentator said:

"Can't blame the squirrel it is Rory McIlroy here."

McIlroy made a bogey on that par-4 first hole and a 69 in the third round. He eventually finished T12 at 11-under that year.

Things got a little squirrelly on tee for @McIlroyRory at the 2018 @TravelersChamp 🐿️

#TOURVault https://t.co/u0fIEPv6qV

How has Rory McIlroy performed at the Travelers Championship in the past?

Rory McIlroy has been consistent at the Travelers Championship, even though he has yet to win a title here. He has four top-20 finishes in four appearances at the event.

Rory's best performance at the TPC River Highlands came in 2020, his third appearance, where he ended up tied for 11th place. Last year, he finished T19 with a score of 9 under.

When will Rory McIlroy resume playing at the 2023 Travelers Championship?

Rory McIlroy is paired with Viktor Hovland and Tom Kim for the first round of the Travelers Championship. The trio will tee off from hole 1 at 12:50 pm on Thursday, June 22, at TPC River Highlands.

Here are the complete tee details for the 2023 Travelers Championship:

Hole 1

6:45 am: Ryan Palmer, Taylor Pendrith, and Will Gordon
6:55 am: Ryan Moore, Kevin Streelman, and S.H. Kim
7:05 am: Jimmy Walker, Kelly Kraft, and Kramer Hickok
7:15 am: Sepp Straka, Jim Herman, Tyler Duncan
7:25 am: Taylor Moore, Billy Horschel, and Chad Ramey
7:35 am: Nico Echavarria, Adam Svensson, Gary Woodland
7:45 am: Cameron Champ, Richy Werenski, and Andrew Putnam
7:55 am: J.T. Poston, Martin Laird, and J.B. Holmes
8:05 am: Brendon Todd, Shane Lowry, and Scott Stallings
8:15 am: Chez Reavie, Tom Hoge, and Brian Gay
8:25 am: Troy Merritt, Lee Hodges, and Ben Griffin
8:35 am: Kevin Tway, David Lingmerth, and Davis Thompson
8:45 am: Carl Yuan, Brett Stegmaier, and Michael Thorbjornsen
12 pm: Peter Malnati, Nick Watney, and Joseph Bramlett
12:10 pm: C.T. Pan, Mark Hubbard, and Eric Cole
12:20 pm: Scott Piercy, Aaron Rai, and Harry Hall
12:30 pm: Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, and Rickie Fowler
12:40 pm: Tony Finau, Jon Rahm, and Scottie Scheffler
12:50 pm: Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, and Tom Kim
1 pm: Jason Day, Sungjae Im, and Tommy Fleetwood
1:10 pm: Corey Conners, Seamus Power, Zach Johnson
1:20 pm: Garrick Higgo, Stewart Cink, and Adam Scott
1:30 pm: Doug Ghim, Callum Tarren, and Ben Taylor
1:40 pm: Adam Long, Russell Knox, Matthias Schwab
1:50 pm: Ben An, Stephan Jaeger, and Max McGreevy
2 pm: Zecheng Dou, Ludvig Aberg, and Sam Bennett

Hole 10

6:45 am: Austin Eckroat, Austin Smotherman, Min Woo Lee
6:55 am: David Lipsky, Justin Suh, and Sam Stevens
7:05 am: Beau Hossler, Thomas Detry, and Dylan Wu
7:15 am: Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, and Sahith Theegala
7:25 am: Emiliano Grillo, Keegan Bradley, and Xander Schauffele
7:35 am: Wyndham Clark, Max Homa, and Justin Thomas
7:45 am: K.H. Lee, Joel Dahmen, Cameron Young
7:55 am: Matt Wallace, Kurt Kitayama, and Hideki Matsuyama
8:05 am: Davis Riley, Mackenzie Hughes, and Cam Davis
8:15 am: Ben Martin, Sam Ryder, Alem Smalley
8:25 am: Matt NeSmith, Doc Redman, and Tyson Alexander
8:35 am: Michael Kim, Adam Schenk, and Andrew Novak
8:45 am: Paul Haley II, Vincent Norrman, and Ryan Blaum
12 pm: Nate Lashley, Zac Blair, Carson Young
12:10 pm: Danny Willett, Chesson Hadley, and Greyson Sigg
12:20 pm: Jason Dufner, Charley Hoffman, Kevin Yu
12:30 pm: Erik van Rooyen, Lucas Glover, and Brian Harman
12:40 pm: Si Woo Kim, Russell Henley, and Ryan Brehm
12:50 pm: J.J. Spaun, Robert Streb, and Matt Kuchar
1 pm: Nick Hardy, Lucas Herbert, and Kevin Kisner
1:10 pm: Trey Mullinax, Luke List, and Webb Simpson
1:20 pm: Andrew Landry, Lanto Griffin, and Francesco Molinari
1:30 pm: James Hahn, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, and Hayden Buckley
1:40 pm: Patton Kizzire, Denny McCarthy, and Robby Shelton
1:50 pm: Patrick Rodgers, Brandon Wu, and Justin Lower
2 pm: Andrew Svoboda, Kyle Reifers, and Benjamin James