When Rory McIlroy said that he was not obligated to speak to the press earlier this week at the Masters, he clearly meant it.
A conversation has been brewing on tour over the responsibility that players have to speak to the media and allow fans to hear from them, whether they have good rounds of golf or bad ones. Collin Morikawa was the lightning rod for this after skipping out on the media following a near miss at Bay Hill earlier this year. He defended that decision, even after he was called out for being entitled by prominent voices in the golf media for not being open and visible to fans.
Rory McIlroy also defended Morikawa in a press conference earlier this week at the Masters, saying that because players aren’t contractually obligated to speak to the press, it should not be an expectation. And he backed that up himself by blowing past reporters after his first round at the 2025 Masters.
“With every other athlete, whether it be in the NBA, NFL, they’re obligated to speak to you guys after a game. We’re not.”
Rory McIlroy on the ongoing debate about the media’s access to golfers after finishing their rounds. pic.twitter.com/cRhArfg0pa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 8, 2025
It was all going well for McIlroy as he had climbed up the leaderboard to -4 on the day on the 15th hole. Playing his third shot from behind the green on the famous Par 5, he then ran his chip past the hole all the way into the pond in front of the green. After a double bogey on 15, he then had another double on the 17th hole after an approach shot over the green.
What started as an incredibly promising round in search of the career grand slam and his first major of the decade quickly fell apart in all too familiar scenes. Instead of being near the top of the leaderboard, he shot an even par 72 and sits seven shots behind Justin Rose after round one.
Rory McIlroy was 4-under (T2) in the middle of the fairway on No. 15.
He ends the day at even par (T26) following two double bogeys in a three-hole stretch. pic.twitter.com/HgiZSWUltZ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 10, 2025
But instead of talking about the round, the highs and the lows, and communicating with the press and fans, McIlroy went right past the media and straight to the practice area according to Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated who wrote, “McIlroy declined to speak to reporters afterward and headed for the practice area.”
It’s surprising from Rory McIlroy because he has been at the center of so much in the golf world the past few years as the public leader of the PGA Tour and the effort to stave off the threat of LIV Golf.
The backdrop of this conversation is the pleas from Justin Thomas and others for golfers to be more relatable in the hopes of growing the game amidst the long term damage being done thanks to the divorce with LIV Golf and players chasing tens of millions of dollars, whether that be on the PGA Tour or elsewhere. One of the reasons why TGL was so successful in its debut season was that it gave all the players microphones and built accessibility and encouraging players to be more open and engaging into the broadcasts.
Rory skipping media means we don’t get a bunch of answers about this. For instance:
-What happened on the tee shot that had you this far back?
-Were you expecting 15 green to potentially be firmer than the others?
-Did you intend for your shot into 15 to come in this low?… https://t.co/U6s8TcCjzB— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) April 11, 2025
Rory McIlroy is literally a founding member of TGL. So if anyone should understand that it’s best for the game to go beyond just what’s obligated and engage with the media and the fans, it should be him. But apparently that will have to wait for a day where he doesn’t play the final four holes at Augusta National in four over par.
