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The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Rory McIlroy annoyed over driver disclosure at US PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy has admitted being 'pissed off' and 'annoyed' after news of a forced driver change leaked during the US PGA Championship last month. McIlroy had to switch heads early in the week at Quail Hollow after his driver was deemed non-conforming by a United States Golf Association test. The scenario is perfectly common – when club faces become too springy through overuse - and also happened to the eventual champion Scottie Scheffler. The process, though, is meant to be private. McIlroy did not address the media after any round at the US PGA, a topic he expanded upon on Wednesday at the Canadian Open in Toronto. 'The PGA was a bit of a weird week,' the Masters champion said. 'I didn't play well. I didn't play well the first day, so I wanted to go practise, so that was fine. Second day we finished late. I wanted to go back and see [McIlroy's daughter] Poppy before she went to bed. The driver news broke. I didn't really want to speak on that. 'Saturday I was supposed to tee off at 8.20 in the morning. I didn't tee off until almost 2 in the afternoon, another late finish, was just tired, wanted to go home. Then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida.' McIlroy duly opened up on the specifics of driver-gate. He said: '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. 'I didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted. 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. I just didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted at the time. 'With Scottie's stuff, that's not my information to share. I knew that had happened, but that's not on me to share. 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.' Lost in this melee was that McIlroy's driving accuracy statistics were decidedly poor during victories at Augusta National and the month previously, when he won the Players Championship. McIlroy's appearance in Canada serves in part as a buildup for the US Open at Oakmont next week. The Northern Irishman admitted he has had to juggle fresh thoughts after winning the Masters, a success which completed the career grand slam. 'I would certainly say that the last few weeks, I've had a couple of weeks off and going and grinding on the range for three or four hours every day is maybe a little tougher than it used to be,' the 36-year-old said. 'You have this event in your life that you've worked towards and it happens, sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again. '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. Yeah, 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 good second half of the season now, too.'
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Shane Lowry enjoys tricky Memorial test as he puts himself into early contention
The smile was very much back on Shane Lowry 's face, to the point where he was jesting with Ben Griffin as both players departed the 18th green after each producing strong opening rounds in the $20 million Memorial Tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. 'Keep it going, things will turn around for you pretty soon,' quipped Lowry to Griffin, the American who came into the event with two wins in his last five outings including a victory in last week's Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. In-form Griffin posted a first round of seven-under-par 65 to assume the clubhouse lead in his bid to keep his winning streak going, but Lowry too manoeuvred his way into contention with a three-under-par 69 that was highlighted by an eagle three on the par 5 where he hit a stunning 272 yards approach shot to inside four feet. Shane Lowry of Ireland lines up a putt on the second green. Photograph: Michael Reaves/Getty Lowry's round featured an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys (both of which came on par 5s) and, for a player with two runners-up finishes on tour this season, to Rory McIlroy in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am and to Sepp Straka in the Truist, the opening round enabled him to eye the potential for a bounce-back win after missing the cut in the US PGA Championship. READ MORE 'You miss a shot and you're going probably going to make bogey. You're going to miss some shots when you're out there playing 18 holes. I missed two fairways on the par 5s and made bogeys on both without hitting it in the water. It's just two horrendous lies and before you know it you're making bogey on what you feel like is an easy hole,' said Lowry, adding: 'There's no holes where you feel like you can get away with one. You need to hit good shots.' For the most part, Lowry did just that in finding 10 of 14 fairways off the tee – albeit paying a heavy priced for finding the rough on the 11th and 15th coming home – while also hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation. While Lowry could joke with Griffin on finishing the round, he admitted: 'It was good. We bounced off each other, we all played really nicely, and it's nice when you get a good group like that. My 3-under doesn't look that great beside his 7-under, but 3-under is a good score out there on this course, it's pretty difficult.' Griffin finished with three birdies to move into the lead after a round which included an eagle (also on the seventh), seven birdies and two back-to-back bogeys on the 11th and 12th where he found water hazards on each. 'I can't remember the last time I birdied the last three holes of a tournament. I mean, the birdies on 16 and 17, those are some of the hardest holes out here. I stayed aggressive on those holes, attacked, never really was trying to play any sort of conservative shots, was just trying to keep the pedal down, and you got to take advantage of that on days like today where putts are dropping,' said Griffin, who was two clear of Collin Morikawa when he finished.
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Wyndham Clark apologises for throwing driver at US PGA Championship
Wyndham Clark has issued an apology for his temper tantrum that marred Sunday's final round of the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Clark, the 2023 US Open champion, turned and launched his driver into an advertising hoarding after finding a bunker from his tee shot on the 16th hole. In a statement on X, Clark wrote: 'I would like to sincerely apologise for my behaviour yesterday on Hole 16. 'As professionals, we are expected to remain professional even when frustrated and I unfortunately let my emotions get the best of me. 'My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on. 'I hold myself to a high standard, trying to always play for something bigger than myself, and yesterday I fell short of those standards. 'For that I am truly sorry. I promise to better the way I handle my frustrations on the course going forward, and hope you can all forgive me in due time.' Clark had made a poor start to his round and had just fallen further back after scoring a bogey on the par-five 15th. He went on to finish in joint 50th place, wrapping up another frustrating performance in a major championship. Clark has not finished in the top 30 since his triumph at the Los Angeles Country Club.
BreakingNews.ie
19-05-2025
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Scottie Scheffler hails mental strength after US PGA win over Jon Rahm
Scottie Scheffler hailed his mentality as his greatest strength after overcoming the challenge of Jon Rahm and having to change a non-conforming driver to win the 107th US PGA Championship. Rahm wiped out a five-shot overnight deficit to claim a share of the lead with seven holes remaining at Quail Hollow, only to collapse down the closing stretch and finish in a tie for eighth. Advertisement Scheffler responded to being caught with three birdies in the next six holes to ultimately cruise to a five-shot victory and third major title following his Masters victories in 2022 and 2024. 'This is a special tournament,' Scheffler said. 'Any time you can win a major championship is pretty cool and I'm proud of how I did this week just staying in it mentally and hitting the shots when I needed to. 'This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time. It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front, I maybe had a four or five-shot lead, and making the turn I think I was tied for the lead. Advertisement 'So to step up when I needed to the most, I'll remember that for a while. 'I always try to lean as much as I can on my mind. I think that's probably my greatest strength. 'Today and this week I really just feel like I did just such a good job of staying patient when I wasn't swinging it my best but I hit the shots when I needed to. 'I hit the important shots well this week, and that's why I'm walking away with the trophy.' Advertisement Masters champion Rory McIlroy had to use a substitute driver at Quail Hollow after his club was found to be non-conforming in pre-tournament testing, and Scheffler revealed that he had also fallen foul of the regulations. 'My driver did fail me this week,' he added. 'We had a feeling that it was going to be coming because I've used that driver for over a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long, I felt like.' Around a third of the 156-man field had their equipment tested at random and Scheffler added: 'I would argue that if we're going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them. Advertisement Sport Scottie Scheffler cruises to US PGA Championship t... Read More 'That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials; if it's something we're going to take seriously, I feel like we're almost going halfway with it right now. 'It's a newer rule that we haven't quite gotten right yet. I think we have some stuff to figure out. I think, if we're going to do it, we might as well do it right, get more robust and get even more strict. 'You can test guys every week, if you want. I mean, there's no reason why we shouldn't.'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Scottie Scheffler hails mental strength after US PGA win over Jon Rahm
Scottie Scheffler hailed his mentality as his greatest strength after overcoming the challenge of Jon Rahm and having to change a non-conforming driver to win the 107th US PGA Championship. Rahm wiped out a five-shot overnight deficit to claim a share of the lead with seven holes remaining at Quail Hollow, only to collapse down the closing stretch and finish in a tie for eighth. Scheffler responded to being caught with three birdies in the next six holes to ultimately cruise to a five-shot victory and third major title following his Masters victories in 2022 and 2024. 'This is a special tournament,' Scheffler said. 'Any time you can win a major championship is pretty cool and I'm proud of how I did this week just staying in it mentally and hitting the shots when I needed to. Bennett Scheffler's first major championship 🥹 — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 19, 2025 'This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time. It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front, I maybe had a four or five-shot lead, and making the turn I think I was tied for the lead. 'So to step up when I needed to the most, I'll remember that for a while. 'I always try to lean as much as I can on my mind. I think that's probably my greatest strength. 'Today and this week I really just feel like I did just such a good job of staying patient when I wasn't swinging it my best but I hit the shots when I needed to. 'I hit the important shots well this week, and that's why I'm walking away with the trophy.' Masters champion Rory McIlroy had to use a substitute driver at Quail Hollow after his club was found to be non-conforming in pre-tournament testing, and Scheffler revealed that he had also fallen foul of the regulations. 'My driver did fail me this week,' he added. Hoist it high. — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 18, 2025 'We had a feeling that it was going to be coming because I've used that driver for over a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long, I felt like.' Around a third of the 156-man field had their equipment tested at random and Scheffler added: 'I would argue that if we're going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them. 'That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials; if it's something we're going to take seriously, I feel like we're almost going halfway with it right now. 'It's a newer rule that we haven't quite gotten right yet. I think we have some stuff to figure out. I think, if we're going to do it, we might as well do it right, get more robust and get even more strict. 'You can test guys every week, if you want. I mean, there's no reason why we shouldn't.'
