McIlroy admits he was "pissed off" after name leaked in PGA driver controversy
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy was "pissed off" his was the only name leaked for failing a driver conformity test at the US PGA and admitted his struggle to motivate himself after completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters.
Speaking ahead of the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto, where he is bidding for his third win in five starts, the world number two addressed his decision not to speak to the media after any of his rounds at Quail Hollow last month.
He finished 14 shots behind Scottie Scheffler in a tie for 47th but he was also annoyed he was the only player publicly named after his driver was deemed non-conforming.
"I didn't play well the first day, so I wanted to go practice," McIlroy said. "So that was fine. Second day we finished late. I wanted to go back and see Poppy before she went to bed.
"The driver news broke. I didn't really want to speak on that and on that Saturday, I was supposed to tee off at 8:20 in the morning. I didn't tee off until almost two o'clock in the afternoon. Another late finish. I was just tired and wanted to go home.
"And then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida."
McIlroy explained that he was annoyed that SiriusXM had publicly named him on Friday as one of the players whose driver had failed a CT (Characteristic Time) test conducted by the USGA on behalf of the PGA of America.
"I was a little pissed off because I knew that Scottie (Scheffler's) driver had failed on Monday, but my name was the one that was leaked," McIlroy said at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, where he is joined by Shane Lowry and Séamus Power.
"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.
"Trying to protect TaylorMade. I'm trying to protect the USGA, PGA of America, myself, you know.
"So I just didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted at the time and with Scottie, 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."
As for his media responsibilities, McIlroy explained that players have the right not to speak if they don't feel in the mood.
"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 a round and do it our own way," McIlroy insisted.
"We understand that that's not ideal for you guys. And you know, 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…
"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."
Resetting his career goals is important and after winning the Masters to complete the Grand Slam, McIlroy admitted that it was difficult to find motivation to return to the practice ground grind.
"I don't know if I'm chasing anything," he said of his goals. "I would certainly say that the last few weeks, I've had a couple weeks off, and you going and grinding on the range for three or four hours every day is maybe a little tougher than it used to be.
"You have this event in your life that you've worked towards, and it happens. You know, sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again.
"So 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 and reset some goals.
"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 have a good second half of the season, though, too."
He added that contending and winning a third Canadian Open since 2019 "would be a great way" to go into next week's US Open.
Lowry will be keen to continue his run of good form ahead of Oakmont, where he was tied for second behind Dustin Johnson in 2016.
But it's also a big week for Power, who can win one of three exemptions into The Open at Royal Portrush and also qualify for the US Open if he wins and moves into the world's top 60.
On the DP World Tour, Conor Purcell tees it up in the KLM Open at The International in Amsterdam as Mark Power, Alex Maguire and Liam Nolan join Dermot McElroy, Jonny Caldwell and Max Kennedy in the Swiss Challenge in Lucerne.
On the Ladies European Tour, Lauren Walsh and rookies Anna Foster, Annabel Wilson, Sara Byrne and Canice Screene fly the flag in the Tenerife Women's Open at Abama Golf.
