Rory McIlroy After Players Championship: “I Think I’m Headed in the Right Direction”

Rory McIlroy finishes the Players Championship, the flagship event of the PGA Tour, in 19th place. The Northern Irishman posted a score of 72 (even par) on the final day at the TPC Sawgrass. In the press conference after the final round, he explained why he was not satisfied despite 26 birdies and how the dispute with LIV Golf could continue.

Full Interview with Rory McIlroy after Players Championship

Question: You said at the beginning of the week you were kind of in between swings. I know it’s probably not the week you wanted, but do you feel like you’re closer to whichever one you want?

Rory McIlory: I think overall I probably made a little bit of progress from this time last Sunday at the Arnold Palmer, so, yeah, it’s there. I think, after the first round I sort of my expectations sort of went sky high because I was like, oh, I think I’ve figured it out. Then the last three days were a little bit more of a struggle.

But I think I’m headed in the right direction. I’ve definitely straightened out a few of the iron shots, which was a big key for me coming into this week. I made enough birdies, it’s just a matter of getting rid of the bad stuff.

Question: You’re playing the week before the Masters, but do you think you might visit Augusta in advance, or has that been as good for you as you would have liked?

Rory McIlory: No, I mean, I might go there on the way to San Antonio. Might head up there on the Monday and play and then head to San Antonio. But no trips planned as of yet.

Question: It’s always kind of cool, though, sometimes you go with your dad, I mean just maybe just for the fun of it more than anything?

Rory McIlory: Yeah, I’ve done that a lot and it’s really nice and I can certainly do that after the Masters, but when I do it before, I don’t feel like I get a ton out of it. Like in terms of like preparation for the week and actually getting into the mindset I need to get into. So maybe a quick pit stop on the way to San Antonio to play a practice round and spend some time. But as I said, nothing planned as of yet.

Question: It’s been confirmed that there’s a meeting tomorrow with the player directors and Yasir. Do you welcome that?

Rory McIlory: Absolutely. I think it should have happened months ago, so I am glad that it’s happening. Hopefully that progresses conversations and gets us closer to a solution.

Question: Does Tiger need to be involved in that do you think at this point?

Rory McIlory: I mean, he’s a player director. He’s on the board, so absolutely he needs to be involved.

Question: What you do hope their message is? What do you hope to take away from that meeting?

Rory McIlory: The players or the PIF?

Question: The players.

Rory McIlory: The players? That fundamentally he wants to do the right thing. I think I’ve said this before, I have spent time with Yasir and his — the people that have represented him in LIV I think have done him a disservice, so Norman and those guys.

I see the two entities, and I think there’s a big, I actually think there’s a really big disconnect between PIF and LIV. I think you got PIF over here and LIV are sort of over here doing their own thing. So the closer that we can get to Yasir, PIF and hopefully finalize that investment, I think that will be a really good thing.

Question: What does PIF want do you think that’s different to LIV?

Rory McIlory: Look, they’re a sovereign wealth fund. They want to park money for decades and not worry about it. They want to invest in smart and secure businesses, and the PGA TOUR is definitely one of those, especially if they’re looking to invest in sport in some way.

Question: Back on the golf, 26 birdies is a record around here. I know it’s nice to be leaving with —

Rory McIlory: Woo-hoo. (Laughing).

Question: There’s been a lot of people play here in 50 years.

Rory McIlory: Yeah, no, it feels, I did the same — I did the same thing at the back end of 2020 I remember, the back end of the COVID year I was making a ton of birdies and making a ton of mistakes, as well, and it was just a matter of trying to figure out a way to keep the bogeys off the card and still make the birdies.

So, yeah, look, it’s not all bad. It could be a lot worse, I guess. If these are the worse finishes that I’m going to have 20ths, you know, I feel like that’s my floor and I haven’t quite got to the golf that I’ve wanted to play to get to my ceiling. Hopefully, over the next few weeks I can work at it and get closer to that level of golf.

Question: Is the volatility swing related or is it an approach thing you’ve seen in the last couple weeks?

Rory McIlory: I think it’s swing related. My misses last week were predominantly to the left. So I really tried to eradicate that this week, and for the most part with the irons I did, but started to get a left miss off the tee.

Golf is a very fickle game. It gives you one thing and then takes away something else from you. It’s just, again, like, I feel like I’ve got all the components there, but just trying to put them all together on a given week. That’s the tricky part at the minute.

Question: Is that bigger picture view that you said — or excuse me, when you talked with Yasir, did you sense from him a bigger picture view than what we’re seeing with LIV?

Rory McIlory: Absolutely. I think there’s a way to incorporate — I think, you know, they’re big on team golf and they want to see team golf survive in some way in the calendar. I don’t think it has to necessarily look like LIV. I think in my mind you should leave the individual golf the individual golf and then you play your team golf on the sort of periphery of that.

But, again, it’s going to require patience. People have contracts at LIV up until 2028, 2029. I don’t know if they’re going to see that all the way out, but I definitely see LIV playing in its current form for the next couple years anyway while everything gets figured out. I don’t think this is an overnight solution, but if we can get the investment in, then at least we can start working towards a compromise where we’re not going to make everyone happy, but at least make everyone understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Question: What particularly is it about LIV that you see is the disconnect with Yasir?

Rory McIlory: I think their disruptiveness and his — their disruptiveness, and then his, I don’t know what the right word is, I guess his desire to be involved in the world of golf in a productive way.