Loved or Unlikable: Where Does Rory McIlroy Stand?
After he completed the Grand Slam at the Masters, nobody in golf had more fans than Rory McIlroy. After 10-plus years of taunting and the media saying he would never win, Rory would take home the green jacket in a playoff with Justin Rose, letting all his emotions out after a sunk putt on 18. Only one distasteful emotion came from it, however, that being from Bryson DeChambeau. While Rory would blow off the question about Bryson’s comments, saying Rory ignored him the entire final round of the Masters, people started to take a closer look at Rory’s history. Is Rory going to be a lock for the Golf Hall of Fame, 100%, but is the Irish Star too unlikeable for his good? That remains to be seen.
This narrative would continue during the PGA Championship after Rory would refuse media time after all four rounds of the tournament, as he would finish at three over par at Quail Hollow, a course he was the overwhelming favorite to win at. While the performance was a shock, a recent report that came out during it made it just as bad. During the second round of the PGA Championship, reports streamed out that Rory McIlroy’s driver was deemed illegal by the PGA and hence had to switch for the second major of the year. The question lay at that moment: did Rory indirectly cheat to win the Masters, or was the failure of the test due to the simple wear and tear of his driver? While the most likely scenario is use and dents, people all over the media started to look at his Master’s win differently in the present time, wondering if his lifetime achievement could have been disrupted by his faulty driver.
Over the past week, however, the story has only gotten worse. The Memorial Tournament, which is going on right now, is an event that Rory has committed to every single year since 2017. The tournament, hosted by legend Jack Nicklaus, has become one of the premier tournaments of the year due to its host and historical significance. Rory, however, decided this year he wasn’t going to participate, and not only did he decline the invite from the golf legend, but never even had the dignity to call him, according to Nicklaus himself. Only about a month after Jack predicted Rory to win the green jacket and went as far as to say he was rooting for the Irish Star, he seemed bummed at the least that Rory didn’t even put five minutes into calling Jack himself. While it was just announced that Rory will speak to the media for the first time in three weeks at the RBC Canadian Open this week, it remains a bad look at how he handled his absence. Now being just one year removed from his collapse at the US Open, the question lies: will Rory bounce back and become another fan favorite again, or keep to himself constantly and shut out anybody who wants the best for him?
