Rory McIlroy Defends Jay Monahan In Players Championship Press Conference: As It Happened

Hello and welcome to Golf Monthly's coverage of Rory McIlroy's pre-Players Championship press conference at TPC Sawgrass.

The World No.2 is due to speak with some of the world's media near the Stadium Course at 7:50am EDT (11:50am GMT) today, and we expect plenty of questions on his reaction to Jay Monahan's press conference yesterday as well his a couple of queries on why it hasn't quite clicked for him on the PGA Tour so far this year.

Always a thoughtful and considered talker, there will be plenty of content from McIlroy. We will do our best to bring you as much of what the Northern Irishman says as possible. Thank you for joining us!

When Rory Won The Players

As we wait for McIlroy to enter the mixed zone at TPC Sawgrass, those who are feeling nostalgic might want to have a look at our report from 2019 which documented the Northern Irishman's tense victory over Jim Furyk.

McIlroy is here

The Northern Irishman is speaking now...

On the Par-3 17th

"I think if it was surrounded by grass and not water it would probably be one of the simplest par-3s that we play all year. Obviously it's not, and you're standing there, and for a par-3 that's 140, whatever, yards, it's more mentally challenging than the physical element of it.

"The wind can swirl a little bit in that corner. Especially now with all the hospitality stands and everything, I think the wind can sort of bounce around in there, so you've got to sort of hit it at the right time.

"It's just one of those holes where you try to get it on the right level, whether the pin is on top or down below, and hit it to 20 feet and then take your chances from there. Play that hole and make four 3s during the week, you're pretty happy."

Is Monahan the right guy to be the CEO?

Yeah, I think so. If you look back at everything he has done, including creating PGA Tour enterprises which allowed us to accept over $1 billion. Looking at the bigger picture, he deserves a bit more credit. Some of the reaction was warranted, but it's about moving forward and trying to piece the game back together.

On performance on the PGA Tour this season

Q: Do you need a good week or do you want a good week?

Probably a bit of both!

I feel like I figured out my putting last week, I've been driving the ball well. I just need to try and take advantage of the positions I'm putting myself in. 

I have this amazing feeling with my woods at the minute, but when I try to recreate that feeling with my irons, it starts left and goes further left. It's a feeling at the top in transition. It's almost like two different swings where I need two different swings for both my irons and my woods.

On giving Scottie advice

It was me basically trying to talk about myself rather than talking about Scottie. I didn't know he was going to put it in the bag and win by five! If people ask for advice, I will still give it to them. People have always given me advice, so I feel like I should repay that.

Rory On his time on the PAC

It's been an education. I'm grateful that I was on the board when I was and it will stand me in good stead further down the line if I want to get into the business side of things.

It didn't take a toll on my golf, but it took a toll on my time and not allowing me to be able to do other things. 

It's different now as we have two boards. One is a business board and the other is about the playing side. 

Have you spoken to Tiger recently?

"I spoke to Tiger at Genesis a little bit, just about sort of everything, whether it be the PIF negotiations or SSG and equity and okay, how are we going to -- not we, how is the Tour going to grow and go from two and a half billion in revenue to four billion. 

"We're all part of the business now. We've all got these equity grants, so how do we make that equity grow so it benefits the players?"

McIlroy on Signature Events

Signature Events really worked last year, but this year they're not quite capturing the imagination as much. In my opinion, I think it's because the fans are fatigued about what is going on from a wider perspective.

More churn, the better for these events. If you look at tennis, they have a one-year rolling ranking rather than two that we have via the OWGR. It incentivises the players not to get complacent, really. I think there should be more chances for the Korn Ferry guys, those guys, rather than some guys that get on tour here and just get comfortable.

What can the fans look forward to?

SSG are going to invest in the on-site experience of the coming years. Having it being more of an event. A bit like Formula 1. Creating more events like that, not saying it's going to be like the Phoenix Open every week, but getting more fans who might not come regularly to enjoy it.

Also, the TV experience will hopefully improve. And if we unify the game to bring us all back together in some way. That would be what the fans really want and can get excited about.

That's all from Rory this morning

The 2019 champ has made his exit. He's off to prepare and hopefully set himself up for a strong week.

We will continue to bring you the best of McIlroy's musings from this morning - as well as a smattering of other PGA Tour-related content.

McIlroy's Players Championship debut

It's hard to believe, but McIlroy made his debut at The Players in 2009 - missing the cut. He failed to play the weekend in his first three appearances before chaining a hat-trick of consecutive top-10s together between 2012 and 2014.

In a previous Players Championship press conference, McIlroy shared the story of how his first experience of this tournament went from bad to worse even after he'd stopped playing.

On being a past winner

"Yeah, fortunately, there's not many places I go now where I'm not a past winner, so it's nice."

On winning everything but that next Major in the past decade - does the pressure or frustration build up?

"It does, but then at the same time, I look at my record in the majors over the last couple of years, and I've definitely started to perform much more consistently in them.

"Look, I'm under no illusion that the clock is ticking and it has been 10 years since I've won one of them, and I've had chances, and those just haven't went my way. I just need to keep putting myself in those positions, and sooner or later it's going to happen."

On being more open to fan-engagement experiences

"Yeah, so to me, like this is the problem with a members' organization. Things are created for the members. Then once those things are created, you've got to go sell those things to fans, sponsors, media. 

"To me, that seems a little backwards. I think what needs to happen is you need to create things for the fans, for the sponsors, for the media, and then you have to go sell that to the players, tell them to get on board with that, because if they get on board and we're all part of the business now, if the business does better, we do better. That seems pretty simple to me."

McIlroy defends job Monahan has done

Elliott Heath, News Editor, On why McIlroy is still the pga tour’s spokesperson

"The recently launched season 2 of Full Swing showed McIlroy in between the roles of a politician and a pro golfer and, despite stepping down from the board last year, it’s clear he remains the PGA Tour’s spokesperson.

"In his gathering with media on-site at TPC Sawgrass this morning, the Northern Irishman was asked around 17 questions and eight of them were related to the PGA Tour’s business, the sport’s future and Jay Monahan’s role.

"As much as he probably doesn’t want to be the spokesperson for the tour, media know that McIlroy is open with his answers and people want to hear his take on golf’s ongoing fracture that he has constantly provided insightful and honest takes on over the past two years.

"Already this year, he’s spoken about LIV Golfers returning to the PGA Tour without punishment, his desire for unity in the game again and the future of the elite men’s game to go truly global, and whether the PGA Tour board are listening, the golf world certainly is."

Magical moment on 17 at TPC Sawgrass

Most people would take simply finding dry land at 17. Will Wilcox - now caddie for Sungjae Im - was not settling for such a low target.

Cut to this moment in 2016...

(Lego Is) Better Than Most

Remember that triple-breaking monster snake of a putt from Tiger at TPC Sawgrass in 2001? Of course you do. Well, here it is retold in Lego form. Video Credit: TW/IG @goldyeller