Rory McIlroy's new driver brings about concern as he shoots second-highest PGA Tour score before U.S. Open
Rory McIlroy might have some serious driver troubles heading into next week's U.S. Open.
The 2025 Masters winner missed the cut by 12 strokes at the RBC Canadian Open, shooting an 8-over 78 on Friday, which was his second-highest score in any PGA Tour event for his career.
The last time McIlroy shot a 78 was in the first round of The Open in 2024.
McIlroy said his round "concerns me," and what professional golfer wouldn't be worried after carding a quadruple bogey as well as one double bogey and four bogeys to go with just two birdies.
"You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today," McIlroy said, per ESPN. "Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't."
McIlroy's driver has been a point of emphasis since the PGA Championship last month, where it was leaked that he had a nonconforming driver that was unusable after pre-tournament testing.
Scottie Scheffler, the winner at Quail Hollow Club that week, also had a nonconforming driver, but his name wasn't publicly known. However, McIlroy was ticked off his name got out there, and he skipped media sessions the entire tournament. He went on to finish T-47th.
Before teeing off this week in Toronto, McIlroy admitted being upset that his driver conundrum had been made public.
"I was a little p----d 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, via The New York Post. "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."
So, McIlroy's tee shots were going to be under a microscope this week because he would be working with a new driver, and it wasn't as consistent as it usually is.
McIlroy is one of the best drivers on tour, currently ranking first in strokes gained off the tee, while being third in driving distance with an average shot of 319.3 yards.
But with the rough at Oakmont Country Club having the ability to swallow golf balls and ruin rounds next week at the U.S. Open, McIlroy's accuracy needs to be much better than it has been. He ranks 170th in driving accuracy, hitting the fairway 51.13% of the time.
At least being cut from this week's tournament gives McIlroy a couple more days to figure out his driver before teeing it up at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
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