Brandel Chamblee reminds Rory McIlroy he has a ‘debt to pay’
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Rory McIlroy’s ongoing blackout with the world’s media continues at the US Open, and the Golf Channel pundit is pleading with him to reconsider…
Rory McIlroy is having an all-time come down since winning the Masters.
After earning his spot at golf’s top table in the most dramatic of fashion at Augusta, the Northern Irishman’s stock has fallen dramatically in recent weeks as he struggles to find any kind of form on the golf course.
It hasn’t helped that it’s coincided with an apparent fallout with the media.
That all started at the PGA Championship, when news that McIlroy’s driver had been ruled as non-conforming by the USGA was leaked. After that, he dismissed all post-round interview requests and didn’t speak until his scheduled press conference ahead of the Canadian Open two weeks later.
And he didn’t hold back, explaining that he was “pissed off” by the “two members of the media [who] leaked it”. He did soften the blow somewhat by explaining that he didn’t want to “get up there and say something I regretted”. But it was too little too late in the view of the social media jury.
It’s been largely the same story at the US Open. McIlroy carried out his pre-tournament press conference duties – after which Paul McGinley described the World No.2’s behavior as “not normal” – before once again denying any post-round chats with either the written press or broadcasters. According to witnesses, a USGA official approached him after a 72 to make the cut on the number and he simply replied: “No, I’m good.”
And while he did finally end his self-imposed media blackout following his third-round 74, his comments left fans reeling. “I feel like I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do,” he explained.
It’s a world away from back in March, when McIlroy triumphed at The Players before joining Golf Channel pundit Johnson Wagner on the tee at Sawgrass’s par-3 17th to try and replicate the shot that won him the playoff. Or the McIlroy that gave time to anyone and everyone that asked for it after finally slipping into that Green Jacket a month later.
And it’s a cause for concern for outspoken pundit Brandel Chamblee.
“In my view, Rory has been the best with the media over the last 15 years, which makes his refusal to talk after his rounds at the last two majors so puzzling,” he wrote in a post on X.
“I think he is lithe enough to understand this is a bad long term strategy. Fans are fickle. They are incredibly generous to those who give back to them and vicious to those who turn their backs to them.
“Given that Rory is one of the game’s biggest leaders, him not talking has tricky normative implications in my opinion.”
Noting that Tiger Woods “almost always talked, even after poor rounds”, Chamblee added: “Why have past greats been so generous with the media? Perhaps it’s out of a sense of duty, following a custom passed down to them by the players that came before them who understood that the debt you pay to those who elevated the game before you is by elevating the game for those who come after you.
“I hope Rory reconsiders his opposition to talking to the media after rounds, because it sends a message to his peers and to those young players who will be on the tour in the coming years.”
McIlroy concluded that his plans for Sunday were “hopefully a round in under four and a half hours and get out of here”. It will be interesting to see what he’s like next month when The Open returns to his homeland at Royal Portrush.
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Rory McIlroy has been requested for interview by the world's media after each round of the US Open, but he has decided not to talk.
