Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Rory McIlroy reacts from a fairway at Quail Hollow.Alamy Stock Photo FreeVow of Silence Silent, surly McIlroy refuses to speak to media after miserable Quail Hollow return McIlroy quickly left the property after an uninspiring round 9.21pm, 18 May 2025 Share options Gavin Cooney reports from Quail Hollow Golf Club OVERNIGHT LEADER SCOTTIE Scheffler was still on the driving range as Rory McIlroy loped through the car park en route to a quick exit from a miserable week at Quail Hollow. McIlroy stopped to wish Jon Rahm good luck, but otherwise left everyone else trailing in his wake. That included the large scrum of media thronged outside the scoring room: he refused to speak to the media again after his final round, grabbing the rail of the stairway leading to the car park to swing himself up to the step and avoid any eye contact on his way out of the place. McIlroy also refused all media requests after his three previous rounds. That McIlroy would not speak at any point across four days of any event – let alone a major championship at which he is the Masters champion – is extremely rare. The silence and the surliness was impossible to predict on Wednesday morning, as a jovial McIlroy grinned his way through a scheduled press conference, warmly remembering his Masters triumph and luxuriating in the familiar embrace of a course at which he has won four times. But from there he capitulated back to the major performances we thought had left his shoulders at Augusta. He effectively played himself out of the tournament with an opening round of 74 and then threatened to force his way back into contention on Friday before ending up in a battle to make the cut with a bogey-bogey finish. He spent the weekend stuck in a joyless kind of neutral, shooting consecutive rounds of 72. Having been among the last to leave the course on Friday, McIlroy returned before dawn on Saturday, only to hear the klaxon for a storm delay as he was making his way to the first tee. The rejigged schedule then sent him out more than five hours later than originally planned. He did at least get out on time on Sunday, which is about the best that could be said for his closing round. He bogeyed two of his opening three holes, though gradually clawed them back with birdies on five and eight. But while the par-five seventh hole was yielding eagles galore, McIlroy could only make par after he sent his tee shot right and was saved from the water only by the generous length of the rough. Advertisement He did go into the water on the driveable, par-four 14th, getting down for bogey and leaving the green to the bizarre sight of an official reaching into the lake to retrieve his ball as a memento. He birdied the par-five 15th but provided more fan fodder on the 16th, blowing his tee shot miles right and close to a hospitality tent. With news that the famous Rory McIlroy had just come to town, aproned chefs came out of the tent to get a glimpse. He admirably got up and down for par, but bogeyed the par-three 17th as, hitting into the wind, he left his approach short of the green. A par at 18 proved no succour: he finished the tournament at three-over, and left clinging within the top-50. McIlroy’s annoyance was not limited to his own substandard of play. A report on Friday by radio broadcasters Sirius XM – who were broadcasting live commentary from Quail Hollow – revealed that McIlroy had to play a different driver head this week, after a random inspection by the USGA had ruled his driver no longer conformed to their rules. This might have explained McIlroy’s bizarrely bad driving day on Thursday, where he ranked 150th of 156 players for driving accuracy, finding only four of 14 fairways. Players’ equipment is routinely assessed by the governing bodies to ensure it’s still within their strict but mind-bogglingly technical parameters. Drivers can become “non-conforming” through no player’s fault: wear and tear eventually thins out the club face and creates a kind of trampoline effect, which the rulemakers say is an unfair means of adding distance. It’s a pretty negligible advantage: Michael Kim, competing in the field this week, said that it can add half a yard, though acknowledged the line had to be drawn somewhere. A third of the field had their drivers randomly tested this week, with McIlroy among the 50-odd golfers to be assessed. He wasn’t among the only player ruled to be non-conforming, but, crucially, his was the only name that leaked out. Xander Schauffele said Scheffler was also required to change equipment ahead of this tournament. The names of the players deemed non-conforming are usually kept confidential. When news emerged at the 2019 Open that Xander Schauffele had to change his driver after an inspection, he declared himself pissed off at the R&A, citing gags from fellow players calling him a “cheater.” While his peers were not being serious, fans overhearing them didn’t get the joke. Hence McIlroy’s annoyance at his name leaking out: the whole thing creates an issue of perception. Those who don’t understand the nuances of the rules governing golf equipment – which are 99.9% of the people following a major championship – can take a glance at news stories talking of a player failing a randomised test and leap to the wrong conclusions. The tournament organisers eventually issued a statement on Saturday afternoon just after McIlroy teed off. Without naming McIlroy, they explained their testing procedures and stressed that they had “no concerns about player intent” in respect to any non-conformities. McIlroy seems to have decided the best course of action was to starve the story of any further oxygen. Tom McKibbin was also not in a mood to talk yesterday after bogeying his final hole en route to a three-over 74, but was in a chattier mood on Sunday. Having opened with four-straight bogeys on holes two through five, McKibbin bounced back by birdieing seven, eight, 10 and 12. His card was then marred by bogeyes on 16 and 17, which played particularly brutally as the winds picked up. “The start was pretty miserable, but I holed a good putt for par on six and birdied seven and eight, which was nice”, said McKibbin. “Two-over for nine didn’t sound too bad after the start. Definitely very happy with how I battled back after that start, it was easy to let the head drop and keep making bogeys. I wanted to shoot a respectable score. “It’s very precise golf, the greens are firm, with the wind you’re trying to land it in precise spots to give yourself a chance. That’s one thing going forward I’ll take a bit of time on and work that out a bit better.” This was McKibbin’s third major appearance, and he has made the cut each time. The 22-year-old will now attempt to qualify for next month’s US Open, while he is already assured of a spot at the Open Championship in Portrush. McIlroy will be in each of those fields too, and perhaps in better form. 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