Trying To Grasp McIlroy's Take On Distance Research, Endorsement Of Bifurcation

Quite a few folks have reached out to ask for clarification of Rory McIlroy’s contradictory remarks last week. As I noted at the time, say what you want about his criticism of the governing bodies, he endorsed their likely solution as well. They will take the latter and ignore the former.

But the Golf.com roundtable gang did a nice job summing up the matter for those trying to figure out McIlroy’s point.

Berhow: The study and research and time that went into this is important. Facts matter. And it’s good to see how the game evolves. Hardly a waste of money or time. I do agree with him that the game has other issues to address as well, but that doesn’t mean the USGA and R&A should give distance or any other relevant topics the cold shoulder. That would be irresponsible. 

Zak: I was seriously disappointed in Rory’s knee-jerk perspective. It surprised me. The USGA is not ruining the game for amateurs with this study. The R&A is not focused solely on professionals. They are simply trying to make sure that some of the pillars this game sits on — centuries-old courses and using all the clubs in the bag — are not bastardized and made extinct by extreme advancements in technology. If slight bifurcation is the answer that keeps Bryson occasionally using a 4-iron at St. Andrews, it would be a great success.

Sens: I think he’s right about bifurcation. It makes good sense. 

Bamberger: Oh, I got ahead of things here — yes, he makes good sense, to a point. All recreational golf, as well as club golf and after-work leagues and all the rest need rules and regulations. But we should play lost ball. drop one where you think you lost it, add a shot. The Tour can do it some other way. 

Headline Writers Seize on Rory Slamming USGA/R&A Report, Less Impressed With His Endorsement Of Local Rule

Rory McIlroy spoke at Wednesday’s Waste Management Open press center and made an inconsistent set of comments about the distance issue.

Headline writers loved his comments slamming the USGA and R&A distance report proposals for consideration, but the real takeaway should have been McIlroy’s endorsement (again) of bifurcation and the local rule concept floated as a result of the study. A position also inconsistent with the views of his partners at Taylormade.

Which is why you do such a study so that such companies see the decision was made on data and research, not opinions.

From Adam Schupak at Golfweek:

Asked if he would be in favor of a local rule or different rules for the pros, McIlroy said: “I would be all for that. If they want to try to make the game more difficult for us or more – try to incorporate more skill to the game, yeah, I would be all for that, because I think it only benefits the better play, which I feel like I am.

The waste of money remarks from Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com:

“So I think the authorities, the R&A and USGA, are looking at the game through such a tiny little lens, that what they're trying to do is change something that pertains to 0.1 percent of the golfing community, while 99.9 percent of the people play this game play for enjoyment, for entertainment,” McIlroy said. “

Of course, the manufacturers have the option to make anything they’d like to help people enjoy the game. Following the USGA/R&A rules are 100% optional.

For those keeping score at home, that’s a huge endorsement for a local rule picked up by the governing bodies.

Rory’s Running For PAC Chairman, Should Knox And Streelman Even Bother?

Rory McIlroy must really love talking slow play and strategic alliances because as Rex Hoggard reports, the Northern Irishman-turned-Floridian is setting himself up for a full time job in addition to playing: Player Advisory Council Chairman.

McIlroy would become the first non-American to ascend to the job, which also puts the election victor on the PGA Tour Policy Board.

Meetings in a natural light setting await!

From Hoggard on McIlroy’s interest in boosting the recently announced “landmark strategic alliance” between the PGA Tour and European Tour:

“I’ve enjoyed being on the PAC the last couple of years and I think that with what’s happening between the PGA Tour and the European Tour I have the ear of the PGA Tour and I have the ear of the European Tour,” McIlroy said following his opening-round 68 at the Farmers Insurance Open. “I just feel like I’ve been around a long time and I feel I can maybe help facilitate things and maybe guide things in a certain direction for what I think is better for everyone.”

He also likes conference calls and votes that count:

“I’ve enjoyed getting to know more about the Tour business, I’ve enjoyed being a part of the calls that went into being able to play out here with COVID conditions,” McIlroy said. “Sometimes on the PAC it’s great to be involved and it’s great to have your voice heard but that’s all it does. You don’t have a vote and being PAC chair, being on the policy board you have a vote and your voice actually counts.”

ZOZO Round One: Tension! Birdies! Bent Clubs! We Have Tangible Evidence The (Fall) Masters Is Near

Nothing against the fall or even the ZOZO, rather miraculously rescheduled despite the sponsor having no place in the American market. But this is typically not a time of year you see players bend clubs, blow off the media, tell dad to lose the tips, or grind on the range until dark.

Day one at Sherwood saw a bit of everything and the stunning scoring you might expect with perfect conditioning, a healthy purse and players seeking momentum into the rescheduled Masters (November 12-15).

A stout 24 players posted 68 or better, with leader Sebastian Munoz 64 despite two bogies and a double. He leads by one over the sizzling Tyrell Hatton and Justin Thomas who finished his round eagle, birdie, birdie.

While spectators are not allowed, local boy Matthew Wolff did have family and friends moving around the property as he predicted Wednesday. Imagine the pride of walking off the fourth tee with Tiger Woods:

Wolff opened with a 69 that included a lost ball at the par-4 14th. He drove the first green, hit the oak next to the surface and made a 17'10” putt for eagle.

Woods, looking fit and swinging beautifully, posted a disastrous 76, his worst round at Sherwood by two. He headed straight to the parking lot—not even stopping for his friends at GolfTV—after signing a card with two birdies, four bogies and a double at the par-5 13th.

Rory McIlroy posted a one under -71 and in uncharacteristic fashion, took out a club on the 18th fairway.

Oh snap! pic.twitter.com/WWh0bh29W5

— Oma Golf (@oma_golf) October 23, 2020

After a -2 70, Jordan Spieth shared a light story about getting just a bit too much advice from his caddie. Who also helped bring him into this world.

Steve DiMeglio explains for Golfweek.

And there was this:

Jordan Spieth has his dad on the bag this week, and it appears pops made the cardinal sin of caddieing. pic.twitter.com/9x2mi9wtMC

— Daniel Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) October 22, 2020

Add Rory To The List Of Those Keeping Up "With The Way It's Going"

Distance deniers have long found excuses for why golf’s governing bodies should not do their job by taking some dimples off the ball or reducing driver head sizes for elites. So they’ve blamed everything from agronomic influences to silly assertions about the crossover athletic abilities of modern golfers. But the message is always the same: tweaking the existing equipment rules to ensure courses and skill remain relevant would be unfathomable.

Typically, the contrarians are motivated by pure dollars and (ad) cents. Lately even more casual golfers are invested in the notion of athleticism as a life style that makes them, as average golfers, athletes too. Yikes.

Long ago we were told the equipment rules had drawn a line in the sand and anything more would prompt action. That was May, 2002. Now carry distances are absurd, Bryson DeChambeau has proven that speed and good putting can be everything, and even Rory McIlroy admits to making moves in an effort to maintain relevance.

From his pre-CJ Cup press conference at Shadow Creek, as reported by Rex Hoggard:

McIlroy also addressed the issue of whether the distance craze has reached a tipping point.

“It's the way the game's going,” he said. “I got sent a really good article last weekend, it was in the Wall Street Journal just about every single sport becoming faster, longer, stronger and I don't think golf's any different. I'm just trying to keep up with the way it's going.”

Again, this is his right as a grown man and probably the right way to think about the future of the game barring rules tweaks that discourage Happy Gilmore golf.

But just imagine the kids out there who don’t have power, don’t have a body that will let them add muscle, and who are watching this. What a shame.

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Rory On Distance: "It went on too long and too far to bring the game to where it was in the mid-90s.”

In his weekly notes column, AP’s Doug Ferguson features this quote from Rory McIlroy without attribution to the context or location:

“I think we're too far down the road to do anything drastic. It went on too long and too far to bring the game to where it was in the mid-90s.” — Rory McIlroy on what golf should do about distance.

It’s an odd one since (A) no one I’m aware of has mentioned going back to mid-90s distances, (B) it’s a contradiction of his wildly inconsistent array of past comments that have covered the gamut from pro-rollback to you-can’t-stop-the-athletes (here, here, and here for starters), (C) it’s oddly short-sighted for a player of McIlroy’s depth and past statements to say the problem is so far gone that inaction is the remedy.

Anyway, anyone know where this was said and what the context was?

Rory On Bryson: "Brilliant...he's taken advantage of where the game is at the minute"

This 2020 U.S. Open post-final round comment from Rory McIlroy has been getting mostly negative reviews and I believe, incorrectly so. McIlroy posted a final round 75 to finish T8 at Winged Foot.

Q. Your golf followed from Tiger's and Tiger's followed from Faldo, Watson, and back to Nicklaus, very kind of straight line. Then you see this guy doing it completely in his own way, and I'm wondering what that says to you about the guy and about the game.

RORY McILROY: So I think -- about the guy, I think it's brilliant, but I think he's taken advantage of where the game is at the minute. Look, again, whether that's good or bad, but it's just the way it is. With the way he approaches it, with the arm-lock putting, with everything, it's just where the game's at right now.I'm not saying that's right or wrong. He's just taking advantage of what we have right now.

DeChambeau’s approach should raise questions about whether this is where the game should head. But you have to admire how he’s taken advantage of technology and put his body on the line in ways no one ever has. McIlroy seems to be saying that with his where the game “is at the minute.”

Which is also code for: where the game is because the governing bodies did not adequately anticipate many things that are happening.

Olympia Fields Bites Back And It's Still Not Getting A U.S. Open Any Time Soon

Since 2003 I’d somehow forgotten what an absolute snoozer Olympia Fields can be on TV. As in, get out the hair dryer-to-deal-with-pillow-drool-dull, confirms the blogger coming off two amazing BMW Championship afternoon power naps.

That said, if par-protecting-fests-to-make-up-for-the-apparent-indignity-of-Jim-Furyk-winning-your-U.S.-Open, Olympia Fields is certainly a contrast from last week’s birdiefest. However, with a logjam of masterful venues in the queue, the USGA likely shrinking things down to a rota, several bigger name classics offering restored designs, Olympia Fields is not getting a U.S. Open anytime soon.

Dylan Dethier with some of the more extreme numbers for a regular Tour stop.

Billy Horschel says its fair, so in addition to deep naps, I’ll sleep so much better tonight.

The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein is reveling in Olympia Fields playing like a U.S. Open course, reporting on the odd USGA shot taken by 36-hole co-leader Rory McIlroy.

Asked if Olympia Fields could be a good U.S. Open venue, McIlroy said yes and added this zinger: “I think what they could do is hire the Western Golf Association to set (it) up. Yeah, this would be a wonderful test for a U.S. Open.”

The course was softened in 2003 by weather but more notably, the PGA Tour rules and agronomy staff oversees the setup this week. So I’m not entirely sure Rory’s punch landed.

Ironically, the event ushering in this whole players v. USGA was at Shinnecock Hills a year later. Not all believe that’s a coincidence.

2020 PGA: Given The Chance To Bend The Spirit Of The Rules, McIlroy Passes

When Rory McIlroy missed his tee shot right of Harding Park’s third green, the usual army of volunteers and three-deep crowds was not there to direct him to the ball.  After his group that included Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas had hit their approaches, the marshals on hand headed to the green’s right side. It was down deep.

According to Kama Yechoor, a volunteer who had finished his shift and was watching the group, those on hand were looking for the ball in an area pin-high right. Turns out, Rory had not flown nearly that far and the ball was sitting well down somewhere beside the fronting greenside bunker.

Jane Crafter, a former LPGA great and longtime commentator working ESPN’s Featured Group coverage, approached the scene to assess the tee shots and was going to help the search.  Everyone this week is a marshal without spectators. No one wants to see a player lose a ball. Even though the bluegrass roughs were topped off at 3.5 inches, the tall stuff is already a stout five inches in shaded areas.

“I didn’t see it, but I felt it,” Crafter said. She stepped on McIlroy’s ball as she approached.

When McIlroy and caddie Harry Diamond arrived, Crafter was told what had happened, according to Yechoor. He called for a ruling.

The task fell to Mark Dusbabek, a roving official working as part of the PGA of America’s rules team this week situated off the nearby 13th fairways. He is also a full-time PGA Tour rules official and before that, a former linebacker who played three years for the Minnesota Vikings.

Dusbabek told McIlroy that he was entitled to replace the ball under rule 14-2, which addresses a ball at rest moved by an outside agency. Since Crafter did not see the lie, Dusbabek told McIlroy that they had to “estimate what the lie was.”

So McIlroy placed the ball down next to the spot where it had been embedded, laying it on top of the dense rough. Dusbabek, kneeling low and conversing quietly with McIlroy, looked at the two-time former PGA Champion.

“He said he didn’t feel comfortable with it sitting on top like that,” Dusbabek said.

Dusbabek told McIlroy he could place it to how he thought it might have sat before the accidental embedding.

“No one really knew what the lie was, but if everyone is going around looking for it, it obviously wasn't too good,” McIlroy said after the round. “So I placed it, I was like, that just doesn't look right to me. So I just placed it down a little bit.”

Not giving himself an advantage all but ruled out saving par after short-siding himself with the tee shot.

“It was a better lie than he probably would have had since I couldn’t see it,” Crafter said. “But he certainly did not give himself much to work with.”

After a second round 69 that included six birdies and a triple bogey, McIlroy explained his thinking.

“You know, at the end of the day, golf is a game of integrity and I never try to get away with anything out there. I'd rather be on the wrong end of the rules rather than on the right end because as golfers, that's just what we believe. Yeah, I would have felt pretty wrong if I had of taken a lie that was maybe a little better than what it was previously.”

Given the recent efforts of some elite players to fiddle with or overtly stomp on the spirit of the game, McIlroy’s instinct to not abuse the rules seemed especially refreshing.

Class act: reporter accidentally stepped on @McIlroyRory’s ball in 3rd green search, official Mark Dusbabek allows him to place, Rory isn’t comfortable with the lie because it’s too good. Resets it lower in rough. Makes bogey. @PGAChampionship pic.twitter.com/C8xXOXFSmu

— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) August 7, 2020

And Then Tiger Said To Rory: "That's how much we hate the Giants. I wouldn't do it."

The CBS crew and ESPN+ broadcast had plenty of focus on the Featured Group of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, which meant we ended up hearing more than maybe they expected as the players waited on the 4th tee

In a nutshell, Tiger explained to Rory why Dodger fans don’t like the Giants-themed golf bags this week, why both think the NFL is doomed and why Tiger does not see MLB lasting past another outbreak.

Rex Hoggard breaks down the conversations here at GolfChannel.com as they looked at McIlroy’s bag.

“Giants’ colors, couldn’t do it,” Woods said.

“I don’t know enough about baseball,” McIlroy said.

“What team do you root for back home? Soccer?” Woods asked.

The Northern Irishman is a Manchester United fan.

“So, Liverpool. It would be like having Liverpool colors on your bag,” Woods said. “That’s how much we hate the Giants. I wouldn’t do it.”

The clip:

"... If they have one more outbreak in any team they're done."

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy talked about MLB before teeing off on their 13th hole.

Stream their round on ESPN+ https://t.co/5GPPRRGnVj pic.twitter.com/ACCeXIwTrs

— ESPN (@espn) August 6, 2020

Wait, What Files: Rory Last Paid A Green Fee At...Valderamma?!

I don’t want to judge and Rory McIlroy can certainly afford the hefty price, nonetheless it was a bit of a surprise when the topic of public golf and majors prompted AP’s Doug Ferguson to ask the last time McIlroy was asked to pay (most courses would pay to have a top player give them the time of day).

That it was a former Ryder Cup site, European Tour event site and rich’s guys place was, well, surprising.

From Steve DiMeglio’s item on McIlroy supporting muni’s for majors and the surprise answer:

“Valderrama, 2005,” McIlroy said. “250 Euros.”

That’s about $375 today.

But it was worth it to play the club that has hosted two different European Tour events, two World Golf Championships events won by Tiger Woods and Mike Weir in 1999 and 2000, and the 1997 Ryder Cup won by Europe.

“I’ve always liked the look at Valderrama,” McIlroy explained his decision to pay to play. “I was in Spain. Obviously Ryder Cup course. The Tour Championship of the European Tour was there for a lot of years. I was there and spent a few months’ worth of pocket money to go and play.”

He had not amassed four majors and two FedExCup’s then, but still pretty funny to imagine the pro shop ringing him up.

Rory: "Silly" To Suggest PGA Tour Stoppage Due To Positive COVID-19 Tests

Back in March when the Players Championship attempted to play on as other sports shut down, most felt it was Rory McIlroy’s suggestion to “shut it down” if a PGA Tour player tested positive that put the gravity of the pandemic into perspective.

After his opening 63 at the Travelers he praised Commissioner Jay Monahan’s uplifting press conference and suggested calls to stop playing following a few positive tests was silly.

From Christopher Powers at GolfDigest.com:

“I think people … you hear one or two positive tests and people are panicking, and I saw a couple of calls to shut the tournament down, which is silly from my point of view,” McIlroy said. “You know, I thought [Monahan] did a really good job explaining. There’s been almost 3,000 tests administered. The percentage of positive tests is under … it’s a quarter of a percent.

“I think as a whole, it’s been going really well. There’s a couple of loose ends that we needed to tidy up, and I think we’ve done that. So yeah, I feel like the mood and the tone of the event was probably lifted by Jay yesterday.”

Back in March, Powers notes when we knew less about the virus, McIlroy expressed graver concern about COVID-19, which was about 2.5 million cases and 126,000 deaths ago.

The four-time major winner said “we need to shut it down” if a player or caddie tested positive. Of course, March was a much different situation than June. McIlroy’s latest comments would indicate that he believes the tour is handling what continues to be a fluid situation quite well.

Lee Westwood: Rory's Probably Had A "Rethink" About Questioning European Stars Sitting Out PGA Tour's Return

Lee Westwood believes Rory McIlroy has “probably had a rethink” after his declaration last week that European Tour golfers have no right to complain about avoiding America during the COVID-19 outbreak. McIlroy mocked players for not willingly quarantining for 14 days with their families in Florida. (You know, because nothing says fun like Florida in July with 4000 people a day testing positive for a coronavirus, versus, oh, Europe in summer.)

James Corrigan reports for the Telegraph on Westwood—one of the players essentially called out by McIlroy given the choice to stay in England for the PGA Tour’s restart—having had a rethink, which is code for a healthy text exchange!

That’s great news since it seemed like an unusually insensitive stance McIlroy took toward his European Ryder Cup peers.

Rory To Europeans Avoiding America For Restart: "It’s not a hardship for two weeks to come over and quarantine."

With elite players like Tommy Fleetwood, Francesco Molinari and Lee Westwood opting to sit out the PGA Tour’s restart, I didn’t expect anyone to question their decision to stay home. Particularly given travel constraints and the two-week quarantine time (each way) for British golfers. And then there is the restarted in two COVID-19 hotspots (Texas and parts of South Carolina) and in a country with the runaway lead in positive tests.

Rory McIlroy, however, was asked in his pre-RBC Heritage Zoom conference and leveled a pretty harsh rebuke of his European Tour peers, reports Gareth Hanna of the Belfast Telegraph.

“If I were in their shoes and I was asked to come over to the States and quarantine for two weeks before these tournaments, I would have done that,” he said.

“If you really care about your career and care about moving forward, you should be here, I think. Last week was 70 World Ranking points for the winner, this week 74.

“I get there are different variables and families involved, but we all have the means to rent a very nice house in a gated community in Florida. It’s not a hardship for two weeks to come over and quarantine.”

McIlroy passed up the 2016 Olympics over concerns about the Zika virus.

Cohesion: McIlroy Suggests More Points Chasing Across Tours

Things I have not heard while the game has been on a COVID-19 break:

“When does the FedExCup chase start again?”

Another: “who is leading the Race to Dubai?”

And you’ll be shocked to learn no one has asked what a late fall finish for the LPGA means for the Race to the CME Globe. But I don’t get out much.

Yet Rory McIlroy mentioned the possibility of tour’s having more “cohesion” post pandemic and possibly leading to a streamlining. It just wasn’t quite the way that will put a many fans in seats unless he thinks this will consolidate schedules and bring top players together more (theoretically it could).

From Doug Ferguson’s AP story:

McIlroy had an idea, just not a solution.

''Whether it's European Tour events offering FedEx Cup points and some PGA Tour events offering Race to Dubai points, I don't know,'' he said. ''But just a little bit more cohesion, and then I think trying to figure out the schedule going forward this year.''

''The major bodies, they're thinking about one or two weeks a year,'' he said. ''And I think speaking to the PGA Tour, speaking to the European Tour, having everyone together and trying to figure this out has definitely opened some people's eyes to what actually goes on and how many moving parts there is. So I think the more that all these bodies can sort of work together for the greater good of game can only be a good thing.''

Well on the latter point, he is certainly correct.