Rory McIlroy has defended his decision to skip post-round interviews again during the US Open and said he has “earned the right to do whatever” after his Grand Slam success.
McIlroy became just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam by ending his 11-year wait for major glory with a dramatic play-off victory at The Masters in April, his third PGA Tour win of the season.
The world No 2 declined the media for all four rounds of the PGA Championship, where reports of his driver being deemed non-conforming became public, with McIlroy electing to avoid post-round interviews after the first two days of this week’s major at Oakmont Country Club.
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Rory McIlroy launched his club down the fairway in anger and smashed a tee marker during a frustrating second round
McIlroy stuttered into the weekend on six over after rounds of 74 and 72, with the five-time major champion explaining his “frustration” when speaking to journalists after a third-round 74 dropped him further down the leaderboard.
“That [the driver issue at the PGA Championship] was a part of it [not doing media],” McIlroy told reporters. “At Augusta I skipped you guys on Thursday, so yeah, again, it’s not out of the ordinary. I’ve done it before – I’m just doing it a little more often.”
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Paul McGinley and Rich Beem reflect on Rory McIlroy avoiding post-round media duties at recent tournaments during at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club
When asked why he was taking that stance, McIlroy added: “I feel like I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do.
“I’m not daring them [the PGA Tour, who don’t enforce speaking to the media] to do anything. I hope they don’t change it because it’s a nice luxury to have. I’m just pointing out the fact that we have the ability to do it.”
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Speaking after a four-over-par 74 for his third round at the US Open, Rory McIlroy suggested that his hopes for Sunday were a quick round and a fast exit from Oakmont
McGinley: This is not normal
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, commentating for Sky Sports: “I think Rory’s better than that, either not talking to the media or giving a press conference like that doesn’t serve him fairly or rightly for the kind of person that he is.
“He looks fed up to me. He looks like he’s had enough of everything. Whether it was the emotion or the release of everything that’s gone on, not just in winning the Masters but in his whole career being pointed towards being a Grand Slam winner, and now he’s kind of reeling on the ropes after that emotionally – I don’t know. But he’s not himself, this is not normal.
“I’m disappointed for Rory that it’s come to that. Something is eating at him that he hasn’t let us know what it is. But there’s something not right.”
McIlroy ‘didn’t really care’ about making US Open cut
The 36-year-old previously revealed it had been “hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again” since his Grand Slam success, with a tied-47th finish at the PGA Championship followed by a missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open.
McIlroy was in danger of an early US Open exit after carding two double bogeys in his first three holes on Friday morning, with the Northern Irishman needing two late birdies just to avoid missing the cut for a second successive week.
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Rory McIlroy made two double-bogeys in his first three holes at the start of his second round, dropping him from four over to eight over
“I alluded to it in my pre-tournament press conference, you don’t really know how it’s going to affect you,” he said. “You don’t know how you’re going to react to something that I’ve dreamt about for a long time. I alluded to the fact that, yeah, I have felt a little flat on the golf course afterwards.
“It’s funny, like it’s much easier being on the cut line when you don’t really care if you’re here for the weekend or not. I was sort of thinking, ‘do I really want two more days here or not?’. So it makes it easier to play better when you’re in that mindset.”
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Rory McIlroy made a birdie on his final hole of the second round to guarantee a spot for the weekend
McIlroy has finished no worse than ninth in his previous six US Open appearances and ended runner-up each of the last two years, although looks set to end that run after a week he described as “pretty average”.
“The name of the game this week is staying patient and try to do a good job of it out there, but it’s one of those golf courses that you can lose patience on pretty quickly,” McIlroy shared.
McIlroy carded two birdies and six bogeys during his third round at Oakmont
“I’ve driven the ball better. I’ve driven the ball as good as I have in a long time, so that’s at least a positive this week. I was hoping to play better, but I didn’t.”
When asked how McIlroy hoped to finish his US Open campaign, he closed with: “Hopefully a round in under four and a half hours and get out of here.”
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