Rory McIlroy speaks out on PGA Championship media silence and driver controversy

Rory McIlroy has shed light on his decision to dodge the press after each round at the PGA Championship, as he gears up for his return this week.

After opting out of last week's Memorial Tournament for a breather, McIlroy is teeing off again at the RBC Canadian Open, a tournament where he's tasted victory twice. This marks his first appearance since a less-than-stellar performance at the PGA.

In Charlotte, attention was drawn away from his play and towards his equipment, as McIlroy had to switch out his driver when it didn't pass a routine USGA inspection at Quail Hollow.

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Now, with the Masters title and a completed career Grand Slam under his belt, McIlroy faced the media in Toronto on Wednesday. He detailed various reasons for his silence in Charlotte, recounting to journalists: "The PGA was a bit of a weird week.

"I didn't play well. I didn't play well the first day, so I wanted to go practice, so that was fine. Second day we finished late. I wanted to go back and see Poppy [his daughter] before she went to bed. The driver news broke. I didn't really want to speak on that."

"Saturday, I was supposed to tee off at 8:20 in the morning. I didn't tee off until almost 2:00 in the afternoon, another late finish, I was just tired, and wanted to go home. Then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida."

The media blackout at the PGA left him unable to discuss his non-conforming driver, but McIlroy wasn't alone in this equipment snafu. Following his win, Scottie Scheffler disclosed that his driver failed the same test.

Speaking about the controversy surrounding his driver, McIlroy expressed frustration over the leak, emphasizing that such test results are intended to be private. "On the driver stuff... I was a little p----- off because I knew that Scottie's driver had failed on Monday, but my name was the one that was leaked.

"It was supposed to stay confidential. Two members of the media were the ones who leaked it. Again, I didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted, either.

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"I'm trying to protect Scottie. I don't want to mention his name. I'm trying to protect TaylorMade. I'm trying to protect the USGA, PGA of America, myself. I just didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted at the time."

"With Scottie's stuff, that's not my information to share. I knew that that had happened, but that's not on me to share that, and I felt that process is supposed to be kept confidential, and it wasn't for whatever reason. That's why I was pretty annoyed at that."

McIlroy, known for his candidness with the press, clarified that unless it's a mandatory rule to speak with the media post-round, players are within their rights to opt out.

"From a responsibility standpoint, look, I understand, but if we all wanted to, we could all bypass you guys and we could just go on this and we could go on social media and we could talk about our round and do it our own way.

"We understand that that's not ideal for you guys, and there's a bigger dynamic at play here, and I talk to you guys and I talk to the media a lot... I've been beating this drum for a long time.

"If they want to make it mandatory, that's fine, but in our rules it says that it's not, and until the day that that's maybe written into the regulations, you're going to have guys skip from time to time, and that's well within our rights."