Rory McIlroy wasn’t anywhere near his best at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow last week, and J.T. Poston thinks he knows exactly why that was the case.
McIlroy really struggled to get anything going at the PGA Championship, and he finished up 14 shots adrift of eventual winner Scottie Scheffler.
The Northern Irishman seemed to be off kilter from the very first minute that he stepped on the property at Quail Hollow.
McIlroy refused to address the media after all four rounds at the PGA Championship, and by doing so, he created even more of a furore around his poor performances.
The 35-year-old was riding high on confidence last month after his win at Augusta National. He was golf’s golden boy after his dramatic Masters win.
However, that narrative has completely switched now.
J.T. Poston thinks he knows why Rory McIlroy struggled at the PGA Championship
McIlroy’s driver was deemed to be non-conforming at the PGA Championship, and it has since emerged that many other players suffered the same fate, including Scheffler.
And J.T. Poston has been speaking on SiriusXM PGA Tour radio about the issue that changing drivers would have caused the Masters champion.
Poston – a three-time PGA Tour winner – knows what being forced into a driver change means, and how it can affect players.
The 31-year-old responded when asked how McIlroy having to change drivers before the start of the PGA Championship would have impacted him.
Poston said, “A lot of us can tell the difference, I mean we hit thousands of golf balls every single day. So when you’re looking at the same club over and over again, you’re going to notice when it looks a little off. I notice it with my putter when I get it out of my bag and sometimes it doesn’t look right. We’ll get it checked and the loft or lie might be off by half a degree, it sounds so small, but when you’re used to looking at a club over and over again, you’re going to notice. The same goes with the drivers. For me, I’m very particular visually, so like, if I do get a new one, a lot of times we will go through two or three that are the exact same head, the same specs, same weight, same everything, but some of them look a touch more shut or a touch more open to my eye compared to what my gamer is. I’m trying to find the closest thing to that game that I can, because that’s what’s going to give me the confidence on the course.“
The average golfer would have been wondering why on earth changing to the same model of driver would have been such a big issue for McIlroy.
Well, after Poston’s comments, it’s clear to see why it was such a big deal for the Northern Irishman. However, it’s worth remembering that Scheffler won the tournament after suffering the same fate as McIlroy with his driver.
McIlroy has made things so much harder for himself
Aside from the issues he had with his driver, the fact that he chose not to speak with the media during the tournament has ensured that even more questions are being asked of him now.
Whenever he does decide to speak to the press again, the first question he’ll be asked is why he didn’t address the media at Quail Hollow.
McIlroy was more than happy to give an interview to anyone who asked him after his win at The Masters.
However, the sign of a real competitor is facing the press when things haven’t gone your way.
Hopefully McIlroy realises that now.
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