Rory McIlroy explains his media freeze out at PGA Championship: 'I was pissed'

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CALEDON, Ont. — Sometimes, when you’re pissed off, it’s better not to talk.

That was the message from Rory McIlroy at the RBC Canadian Open when he finally addressed why he opted to skip post-round media interviews last month at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

“I didn’t want to get up there and say something that I regretted,” McIlroy responded to a question from Postmedia at TPC Toronto on Wednesday.

Heading into the PGA Championship off an historic win at the Masters, the mood quickly soured for McIlroy in Charlotte after a bad opening round and frustration that only his name had leaked over a failed driver test, despite eventual winner Scottie Scheffler also having to use a backup driver after his club was ruled non-conforming following USGA testing.

McIlroy shot an opening-round 74 and finished the week 15 shots behind Scheffler at 3-over par.

“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,” McIlory said. “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.”

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The five-time major champion went through a chronology of frustrations that led to four straight days of opting not to speak to media at the season’s second major, admitting it was a bit of a “weird week.”

Round 1: “I didn’t play well the first day, so I wanted to go practice, so that was fine.”

Round 2: “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.”

Round 3: “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 (because of weather delay). Another late finish, I was just tired, wanted to go home.”

Round 4: “I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida.”

McIlroy rightly pointed out that, unlike some sports, players are under no obligation to speak to media after rounds. He also mentioned the elephant in every newsroom that, if he wanted, he could never do an interview again and simply post his thoughts on social media.

“We could all bypass you guys and we could just go on this (looking at his phone) and we could go on social media and we could talk about our round and do it our own way,” he said.

We don’t have room here to get into everything that could go wrong with that, but it goes something like getting your nutrition information from McDonalds’ Instagram account.

“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,” he added. “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’re sort of, we understand the benefit that comes from you being here and giving us the platform and everything else. So I understand that.”

He had made his point.

To the surprise of no one, it was a very measured and intelligent explanation from Rory. It just came three weeks late.

And, in that time without answers, he had left room for the ugly side of social media to attempt to fill in the blanks, which is never a good idea.

With the amount of good will McIlroy had earned over the years and further enhanced with his dramatic Masters victory in April, nobody in the media was looking to bury the game’s most popular star. Now that it has been explained, it just becomes a curious part of one forgettable week in the midst of perhaps the most memorable season of a legendary career.

“I’ve been beating this drum for a long time,” he said. “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.

“Some days, you don’t feel like talking.”

Now that’s something everyone can understand.