Rory McIlroy seemingly cannot stay out of the news at the moment, whether it’s matters on or off the golf course.
McIlroy finally won The Masters in April, having already achieved victories at the Players Championship and Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier in the season.
So, the Northern Irishman was making the headlines for all the right reasons before recently receiving plenty of criticism.
McIlroy has been called out for using a non-conforming driver, skipping press conferences, disappointing performances, and more in a difficult few months.
His latest controversial moment came in his press conference before the Scottish Open, where he said something he now regrets.
Rory McIlroy already regrets one comment he made in Scottish Open press conference
McIlroy recently spoke about how much it would mean to win the Open Championship at Royal Portrush next week.
In doing so, he took a shot at the future PGA Championship venue, PGA Frisco. He said: “If venues in golf matter to you, it maybe puts a little bit more pressure on you.
“So yeah, I would love to win an Open at Portrush, absolutely. I would love to win an Open at St Andrews. I would love to win a US Open at Pebble Beach. I’d love to win a PGA at PGA Frisco — no. (Laughter).
“But it’s like there are venues in the game that just mean a little bit more. Frisco might get there one day, who knows?”
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard then revealed that McIlroy already regrets his comments on PGA Frisco and wasn’t sure why he made them.
Hoggard shared: “I asked Rory afterwards, I said, ‘Were you saving that one?’ and he said, ‘I don’t know where that came from! I actually felt bad when I said it, as soon as it came out of my mouth.”
Ryan Lavner thinks the Open Championship could bring out the best in Rory McIlroy
Hoggard’s co-host, Ryan Lavner, also discussed McIlroy’s chances of winning next week’s Open Championship.
He believes that McIlroy was worn down after a busy period on the PGA Tour and that now, playing on home soil after a few weeks off, he could return to his best.
“You can talk about the various parts of Rory’s game and why this portends well,” Lavner explained. “He drove it great at Oakmont for the US Open. He putted great at the Travelers Championship in his last start on the PGA Tour.
“But as he mentioned in his press conference, he really likes the idea of detaching himself from the past couple of weeks, where there is a grind on the PGA Tour, there is a certain routine and cadence to it. The Tuesday-Thursday grind is all the same every single week.
“This has felt different, I think, not just sort of the crowd affection but the style of play, incorporating your family more on a daily basis, I think, is always a positive thing for a player like Rory, who is 36 and has been doing it for 18 years as a professional. I think that is all going to be a very positive thing.”
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