Rory McIlroy has labeled Connecticut’s PGA Tour course “outdated” and claims the low score at the Travelers Championship only strengthens the argument why governing bodies are right in their plan to put the brakes on unreasonable distances launched by the pros. the ball.
McIlroy finished tied for seventh at 18 under after a final-round 64 at TPC River Highlands and although he is satisfied with his form ahead of his trip to England for next month’s Open, there is still a note of dissatisfaction due to latest. PGA Tour birdie-fest featuring Keegan Bradley winning at 23 under par.
“I don’t like when a tournament goes like this,” McIlroy said, after a round with seven birdies and one bogey.
“Unfortunately, technology has passed this course, hasn’t it? It kind of makes it obsolete, especially with as mild as the little rain we’ve had. So, again, like the talk about going back, you know, limiting the golf ball and stuff like that, when we get to courses like this, they don’t present the challenge that they used to.
McIlroy is one of several big names backing the R&A and US Golf Association’s plans to introduce ball restrictions. The regulations are due to be introduced from 2025 and will see the average driving distance for big hitters like McIlroy reduced by up to 15 yards.
McIlroy isn’t a fan of “cheating” courses to go up against big hitters. “You can grow a bad one and hope you get some stable conditions to make it tough,” he said. “I think the blueprint for a really good golf course is not increasing the rough and making the fairways tight. That brings it all together. When you get soft conditions like this and you get the best players, this is what happens.
How Augusta extended the par-five 13th to overcome the big hitters
McIlroy accepted that his opinion was not the prevailing view in the locker room. “I know that’s an unpopular opinion among my peers, but I think it helps identify who the best players are more easily,” he said when the proposals were announced. this year.
“Especially in this era of equality. Some have said, ‘Golf is deaf at the elite level’, and I completely agree. I think you see people with better games succeed more easier than what the game has been, which has been a bit ‘bomb and smash’ for the last few years.
The check for more than £500,000 saw McIlroy leapfrog Dustin Johnson into third in all-time PGA Tour earnings, having banked more than $75 million (£58.9 million). Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be hard to catch as Nos 1 and 2, but McIlroy is only 34 years old and with the prize money ballooning due to the influx of money in Saudi Arabia, he has a chance to pass both.
However, McIlroy’s focus is purely on the next major. “I have two weeks off and then Scotland and I’m ready for the Open,” he said.
Leona Maguire is missing
At the Women’s PGA, the second women’s major of the season, McIlroy’s compatriot Leona Maguire failed in her attempt to make history as the first Irish woman to win a major after an overnight advantage, when shot a three-over 74 in Baltusrol, New Jersey.
The 28-year-old held a one-shot lead heading into the final round but crashed through the field to finish 11th in the bottom four. As it happened, Stephanie Meadow claimed top Irish honors, with a 70 giving her third place, two behind winner Ruoning Yin, and boosting the Ulsterwoman’s hopes of making the team in Europe Solheim Cup for the match against the United States in Spain in September.
Yin, 20, put on a ball-striking clinic, hitting every green in regulation for a four-under closing round of 67 to become the second Chinese major winner, following Shanshan Feng’s win at the Women’s PGA in 2012.
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