Rory McIlroy’s recent insistence on not talking to the media at tournaments has left the PGA Tour concerned, according to one high-profile golf insider.
It has been a year to remember for the Northern Irishman already, with his Masters triumph completing his career Grand Slam after a decade of trying.
Away from the course, though, McIlroy has butted heads with reporters after repeatedly refusing to speak to them between rounds.
Speaking this week at the Canadian Open – which saw him fail to make the cut after a woeful first round – the world No 2 said: ‘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.’
McIlroy’s decision has created negative headlines around the world and according to The Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, it has left the PGA Tour concerned – given McIlroy is perhaps its biggest star.
Rory McIlroy has made no secret of his dislike at regular media duties PGA Tour players face
‘Until there is something concrete, until there is something mandatory in the PGA Tour regulations, Rory said this is just going to be the way of life on the PGA Tour in the media,’ Ryan Lavner began on The Golf Channel podcast.
‘Certainly, this is something that Rory has thought about,’ Hoggard then replied. ‘Certainly, this is something that the PGA Tour has thought about.
‘And I can say, in conversations with the tour since this happened, I tend to be in agreement with those in the communications department that have the same concerns as you and I in the media have. When you have a player of Rory McIlroy’s stature that skips all four days, it’s not great.
McIlroy is coming off the back of a woeful week in Canada in which he missed the cut
‘But the bigger issue here is that it sets a standard for every other player on the PGA Tour. The other 155 players at Quail Hollow were looking and saying to themselves… “Well, if that guy isn’t going to do it, why in the world would I talk to the media after a round?”
‘That is disturbing; that’s concerning for all of us in the media. The flip side of that would be what you are alluding to. The idea that maybe, like most sports, maybe the PGA Tour should have a policy that demands players should have media availability after each round.’
So far, the PGA Tour has not made any move to force its players to speak to the media, but the door remains open.
McIlroy is due to play next week at the US Open, which begins at Quail Hollow on Thursday.
