Rory McIlroy is standing behind his decision to skip media sessions at the PGA Championship last month.
The Northern Irishman said Wednesday he had been “pissed off” after news came out that his driver was deemed nonconforming and unusable in pre-tournament testing.
As a result, McIlroy, 36, did not speak to reporters after any of his four rounds at Quail Hollow Club, which took place from May 15-18 in Charlotte, where he finished tied for 47th at 3-over.
Scottie Scheffler also had his driver ruled nonconforming before he went on to win the tournament by finishing 11-under par — but while Scheffler’s name stayed confidential, McIlroy’s situation was reported by SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio.
“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,” McIlroy said in a press conference ahead of the RBC Canadian Open, which begins Thursday at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. “It was supposed to stay confidential. Two members of the media were the ones that leaked it.”
“I didn’t want to get up there and say something that I regretted, either, because 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.”
McIlroy said the news of his nonconforming driver came as part of a “weird week,” since he had a poor first round, shooting a 3-over 74, finished late after his second round and had his third round pushed back six hours due to a weather delay.
He said he “understands the benefit” of having media coverage at tournaments, but qualified it.
“If we all wanted to, we could all bypass you guys and we could go on social media and we could talk about our round and do it our own way,” he added.
McIlroy pointed to the fact that the PGA Tour does not require its golfers to speak to the media, unlike in the NBA, NFL and MLB.
“If they want to make it mandatory, that’s fine,” said the five-time major champion. “But in our rules it says that it’s not, and until the day that’s written into the regulations, you’re going to have guys skip from time to time, and that’s well within our rights.”