McIlroy has work to do on game and media policy as US Open looms

Rory McIlroy hits his second shot on the 18th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)

Rory McIlroy completed a mini grand slam of sorts when he declined post-round media requests for the fourth day in a row at the PGA Championship.

The Masters champion did not have a great week at Quail Hollow and was out of sorts in virtually all departments of his game as he shot a second successive one-over 72 to finish provisionally tied for 51st on three-over-par.

Disappointment about a poor performance in a major championship is understandable. Still, the world number two was clearly unwilling to answer questions about being asked to replace a non-conforming driver head after it reportedly failed in an equipment test carried out by the USGA on behalf of the PGA of America last Tuesday.

That a player is asked to change out his driver due to "driver creep" is nothing usual in an era when modern driver faces deteriorate after around 5,000 hits by a top-level tour player and edge over the allowed threshold for spring-like effect.

But with the results intended to be confidential to avoid "a player being questioned unnecessarily", as (per their statement on Saturday) "neither the USGA nor the PGA of America have any concerns about player intent."

McIlroy is clearly irked that his name was leaked and other top players, who were also asked to replace their driver heads in Charlotte, remain anonymous.

The level of his annoyance with some reporting of the incident is clearly high given he has done nothing wrong at all.

But it is also highly unusual for a reigning Masters champion to skip media duties four days in a row, and it will be interesting to see how this evolves as the US Open approaches.

There is already a debate amongst players about their media obligations after Collin Morikawa skipped past the press following his final-round loss in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and later excused himself by saying, "I don't owe anyone anything."

That McIlroy agreed with Morikawa's stance when asked about it in his pre-Masters press conference says much about the media fatigue some top players now feel.

"He's right," McIlroy said. "Not that I think he could have worded it a little bit better, but look, every other athlete, whether it be in the NBA, NFL, they're obligated to speak to you guys after a game. We're not.

"Whether that's something that the PGA Tour looks to in terms of putting that into their rules and regulations, but as long as that's not the case and we have that option to opt out whenever we want, expect guys to do that from time to time."

As for his golf, McIlroy's final round was a microcosm of his week — missed fairways, missed greens and little inspiration with the flat stick.

Starting almost five hours before Scottie Scheffler, he missed the first three greens and bogeyed the first and third to slip four over before getting a shot back at the fifth.

He then avoided finding the water with his tee shot at the par-five seventh for the second day running, but after making birdie at the short par-four eighth, he couldn't birdie the par-five 10th after finding more rough, then missed good birdie chances at the 12th and 13th before hitting a fairway wood into the water at the driveable 14th.

A bogey there left him one-over for the day, and after making birdie at the par-five 15th, his tee shot at the 16th sailed so far right that he ended up behind a massive corporate hospitality tent and played his second amongst the fumes and smells emanating from the grilling hot dogs and burgers.

He still managed to joke with the galleries and save par, but after a bogey-par finish, he was all business as he headed straight for the courtesy car and the airport.

He will no doubt spend the next few days working on his game after hitting just 50pc of his fairways and greens at a venue where he has won four times.

That's a problem far bigger than media fatigue heading to fearsome Oakmont next month.