Rory McIlroy breaks silence on PGA Championship driver-test fail and why he skipped media
Adam Schupak- Rory McIlroy explained his silence at the PGA Championship, citing a leaked driver issue, late finishes, and a desire to protect others involved.
- McIlroy expressed annoyance that his non-conforming driver information was leaked, while Scottie Scheffler's similar situation remained confidential.
Rory McIlroy ended his silent treatment during all four rounds of the PGA Championship on Wednesday and kindly returned to speaking to the media.
It took several questions but eventually the reigning Masters champion was asked about why he chose to go radio silent at Quail Hollow last month after it was reported that his TaylorMade driver had been deemed non-conforming ahead of the season’s second men’s major.
“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,” he explained during his pre-tournament press conference ahead of the RBC Canadian Open. “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, who had won four times at Quail Hollow and was expected to contend for the Wanamaker Trophy, was a non-factor, finishing T-47, and his poor driving performance, especially during the first round when he shot 74, stuck out like a sore thumb.
“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. Again, I didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted, either, because there's a lot of people that — 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,” McIlroy said. “With Scottie's stuff, that's not my information to share. I knew that that had happened, but that's not on me to share that, and 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.”
McIlroy also declined to speak to the media after he bogeyed three of the final four holes of the final round at Pinehurst last June to lose the U.S. Open to Bryson DeChambeau. It’s been a recent trend of late to skip talking to the media. Asked to address what a player’s responsibility is to speak to the media after the round, McIlroy defended his actions.
“From a responsibility standpoint, look, I understand, but if we all wanted to, we could all bypass you guys and we could just go on this and we could go on social media and we could talk about our round and do it our own way,” he said. “We understand that that's not ideal for you guys and there's a bigger dynamic at play here, and I talk to you guys and I talk to the media a lot. I think there should be an understanding that this is a two-way street, and as much as we need to speak to you guys, we understand the benefit that comes from you being here and giving us the platform and everything else. So I understand that. But again, I've been beating this drum for a long time. If they want to make it mandatory, that's fine, but in our rules it says that it's not, and until the day that that's maybe written into the regulations, you're going to have guys skip from time to time, and that's well within our rights.”
At last, McIlroy has given his side of this over-played story that became bigger than need be due to his decision not to address it.