Gavin Cooney

RORY MCILROY SAYS he was “pissed off” over the non-conforming driver furore that enveloped his off-colour performance at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow last month, saying it contributed to his decision not to speak to the media after any of his four rounds. 

Though McIlroy hosted a press conference the day before competition began at Quail Hollow, it was unprecedented that he did not speak again across a major championship at which he made the cut.

It emerged on Friday during the PGA Championship that McIlroy was forced to change his driver ahead of the competition, as the driver he had in use had been deemed non-conforming under a random test conducted by the USGA. It was non-conforming owing to wear and tear: as the face of drivers thin out from use, it can provide a trampoline effect which can add a slight bit of extra distance. The USGA deem this non-conforming, and so McIlroy was forced into a late change. The governing body tested a third of the field at random, with eventual winner Scottie Scheffler also forced into a change. That fact only emerged on Sunday evening, however, when Scheffler was asked about it. Ordinarily the names of the non-conforming players remain confidential. 

“The driver stuff, I was a little pissed off because I knew that Scottie’s driver had failed on Monday, but my name was the one that was leaked. It was supposed to stay confidential. Two members of the media were the ones that leaked it,” said McIlroy.

“I didn’t want to get up there and say something that I regretted, either, because there’s a lot of people [involved]. I’m trying to protect Scottie. I don’t want to mention his name. I’m trying to protect TaylorMade. I’m trying to protect the USGA, PGA of America, myself. I just didn’t want to get up there and say something that I regretted at the time.

“With Scottie’s stuff, that’s not my information to share. I felt that process is supposed to be kept confidential, and it wasn’t for whatever reason. That’s why I was pretty annoyed at that.”

Though annoyed about it, McIlroy didn’t swerve the press solely for that reason. 

“The PGA was a bit of a weird week. I didn’t play well. I didn’t play well the first day, so I wanted to go practice, so that was fine. Second day we finished late. I wanted to go back and see [daughter] Poppy before she went to bed. The driver news broke. I didn’t really want to speak on that. 

“Saturday I was supposed to tee off at 8:20 in the morning. I didn’t tee off until almost 2:00 in the afternoon, another late finish, was just tired, wanted to go home. Then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida.”

McIlroy was also asked about the framework which allowed him to skip out on press duties, as professional golfers are not contractually mandated to speak to the media after their rounds. 

“If we all wanted to, we could all bypass you guys and we could go on social media and talk about our round and do it our own way”, he replied. “We understand that’s not ideal for you guys and there’s a bigger dynamic at play here. I talk to you guys a lot, I think there should be an understanding this is a two-way street.

“We understand the benefit of you being here and giving us the platform and everything else, again I have been beating this drum for a long time, if they want to make it mandatory that’s fine but in our rules it says it’s not and until the day that’s written into the regulations you’ll have guys skip from time to time.

I’ve skipped my fair share of media requests over the years. Somedays, you don’t feel like talking.” 

McIlroy skipped the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour last week but is teeing it up in Canada ahead of next week’s US Open, the third major of the year. 

“I love that it’s the week leading into the U.S. Open,” said McIlroy. “I told this story a little bit, but before playing in this event, 2016, 2017, 2018, I missed three cuts in a row at the U.S. Open, and since playing the Canadian Open the week before, I’ve had six top 10s in a row.” 

In the immediate aftermath of his extraordinary victory at the Masters, McIlroy spoke of “playing with house money” and being unburdened and under less pressure at future major championships. Today, however, he struck a different tone. 

“I don’t know if I’m chasing anything. I would certainly say that the last few weeks I’ve had a couple weeks off, and going and grinding on the range for three or four hours every day is maybe a little tougher than it used to be,” he said.

“You have this event in your life that you’ve worked towards and it happens, sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again. I think the last two weeks have been good for me just as a reset, just to sort of figure out where I’m at in my own head, what I want to do, where I want to play.

“I thought it was a good time to reset some goals. I’ve had a pretty good first half of the season, and I want to have a good second half of the season now, too.”

McIlroy tees off alongside Ludvig Aberg and Luke Clanton at 12.40pm Irish time tomorrow. 

Shane Lowry is in the field too, and has been paired with defending champion Robert MacIntyre and local favourite Corey Conners at 5.55pm.

Seamus Power is out slightly after that, alongside Rafael Campos and Peter Malnati at 6.06pm.