Rory McIlroy skips media again, declines to talk about poor PGA and driver situation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy’s assessment of his play this week at the PGA Championship will remain a mystery.

He declined to speak to the media for the fourth consecutive day.

At a place that he has dominated like no other in his career, McIlroy could never got untracked this week at Quail Hollow. He made the cut on the number and then shot over par in both weekend rounds to ultimately finish outside the top 40 – his second-worst major finish in the last two years. He finished at 3-over 287.

One of the game’s best drivers, McIlroy struggled mightily off the tee, ranking 70^th out of 74 players in fairways hit. It’s uncertain how much that had to do with a late equipment switch; SiriusXM reported earlier this week that McIlroy’s gamer was deemed non-conforming and he was forced to change out driver heads before the first round.

The PGA of America didn’t comment specifically about McIlroy’s testing results – it’s supposed to be confidential – but said, generally, that it’s a routine process at tournaments and that repeated ball-striking can cause a club to cross the testing threshold without a player’s knowledge.

Out of position off the tee this week, McIlroy lacked his usual precision into the greens and then wasn’t tidy enough on the putting surfaces to salvage his score.

It was a surprisingly sloppy start from the world No. 2 who hasn’t finished worse than 17^th in a stroke-play event this season, with three wins in marquee events – none bigger, of course, than last month’s Masters, when he completed the final leg of the career Grand Slam in his 11^th attempt.

At his pre-tournament press conference, McIlroy said that although he has competed twice since Augusta National – at the Zurich Classic team event and again last week at the Truist Championship – he hadn’t devoted his usual time to practice and preparation amid his celebrations abroad and New York City media tour.

McIlroy has committed to the RBC Canadian Open, scheduled for a week prior to the U.S. Open, but has not yet signed up for the Memorial Tournament (May 29-June 1), which is the next signature event on the PGA Tour schedule. He has played the Jack Nicklaus-hosted invitational every year since 2017.