Rory McIlroy Skips Media All Four Days At PGA Championship In Odd Decision Amid Driver Drama

After speaking to the media at Quail Hollow on the Wednesday before the first round of the PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy declined every media request that followed over the next four days, and did not speak to the media one single time during the playing of the year's second major championship.

Not only is McIlroy skipping out on media a bad look overall, but it's very much off-brand for him. McIlroy could be dealing with something away from the golf course this week that the public isn't privy to, but fans and media members alike can only react to what they know, and not talking for four consecutive days is odd behavior.

Outside of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, no player over the last 20 years has answered more questions and fulfilled more media obligations than McIlroy. That fact doesn't give him a pass to completely avoid the media for four straight days at a major championship, however, especially this week in particular.

Just five short weeks ago, McIlroy became just the sixth player in modern history to complete the career grand slam after winning the Masters and finally getting his hands on a green jacket. That accomplishment cemented McIlroy as an all-time great, let alone his generation's best player, and with those accolades, a player is obligated to speak to the media at a major championship.

Rory McIlroy skipped out on the media each day of the PGA Championship. Credit: Michael Madrid-Imagn Images

McIlroy doesn't get let off the hook simply because he was never in contention at Quail Hollow, especially given the fact that this was his first major championship start after completing the career grand slam. Fairly or unfairly, he has a responsibility to give something, anything, to the press.

McIlroy dodging the media throughout the week is incredibly odd on the surface level, but then you add the drama surrounding his driver, and things look much worse for the 36-year-old.

According to SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, McIlroy's driver was ruled non-conforming Tuesday. While the ruling was reportedly made two days before Thursday's opening round at Quail Hollow, the report did not come out until Friday evening. Driver testing is normal on the PGA Tour and at major championships, with clubs being selected at random to combat wear across the club face that pushes drivers beyond the limit for spring-like effects.

It's unclear if the driver that was deemed non-conforming was the same one McIlroy used during his win at the Masters. 

Rory McIlroy was reportedly deemed to have a non-conforming driver ahead of the PGA Championship. (Kyle Terada-Imagn Images)

That is, of course, the question everyone wants to ask McIlroy, and him continuously declining to speak with the media this week makes it look like he's running away from those questions and the topic at hand.

The media isn't going to forget about McIlroy's non-conforming driver, and he'll have to address it sooner rather than later, but avoiding those questions this week does buy him extra time to dissect the situation from his own point of view.