Rory McIlroy Bans Himself From Social Media After Elkington Spat

Speaking on the eve of the Irish Open, the Ulsterman has revealed he has banned himself from social media after his twitter spat with Steve Elkington

Rory McIlroy Bans Himself From Social Media After Elkington Spat

Rory McIlroy has told media he has banned himself from social media after his recent spat with 1995 USPGA Champion Steve Elkington.

The Ulsterman was speaking on the eve of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, which is supported by the Rory McIlroy Foundation.

Elkington accused McIlroy of being "bored" of professional golf with "100 mill in the bank" after the four-time major winner missed the cut at the US Open.

But Rory responded, saying "More like 200mill, not bad for a 'bored' 28-year-old. Plenty more where that came from."

McIlroy then went on to correct Elkington's grammar in a later tweet.

"I must have wrote that tweet and deleted it about five times before I actually sent it," McIlroy said in his press conference.

"I sort of regret sending it at the end but I actually gave my wife, Erica, my phone and my Twitter and told her, 'Change my password to something else and don't tell me what it is'.

"So as of the time being, I'm off social media just because of that reason. I don't need to read it. It's stuff that shouldn't get to you and sometimes it does.

The 28-year-old said he wouldn't have reacted the same had it been a member of the media.

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"It is not what was said. It was who said it and anyone who has been in that environment should realise how hard golf is at times," he said.

"That is the thing that got to me more than anything else.

"If it was written by a member of the media or something I could let it slide, because I can sort of say to myself, they don't really know how it is and they don't know what you have to deal with.

"But a former player that has won a major and been successful, that's sort of why it got to me and that's why I sort of retaliated a little bit."

The Irish Open gets underway on Thursday, with McIlroy part of the featured group alongside Jon Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama.