Rory McIlroy’s hopes of back-to-back major titles were disrupted by a non-confirming driver forcing him into a late replacement ahead of the PGA Championship.
Golf’s newest Grand Slam champion was among the favourites to add to his major tally at the Quail Hollow Club, a venue he registered his maiden PGA Tour title in 2010 and won three more times at since.
McIlroy is already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season – including a fifth major victory at The Masters, with the Northern Irishman leading the strokes gained off the tee statistics during his dominant start to the campaign.
The story was first reported by XM Sirius PGA Tour Radio, who said McIlroy’s regular driver was tested and deemed to be non-conforming after he arrived on Tuesday at Quail Hollow. The report that McIlroy had to use a replacement driver was confirmed by his management team to Sky Sports.
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The Golf Channel team discuss a report that Rory McIlroy’s driver was deemed non-conforming by the USGA ahead of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow
McIlroy found just two fairways off the tee during an erratic opening-round 74, leaving him 10 strokes off the early lead, with the world No 2 – who posted a two-under 69 on Friday – tied-last in driving accuracy among the 74 players who made the cut.
What has the PGA of America said about it?
A statement on Saturday from Kerry Haigh, Chief Championships Officer of the PGA of America, said: “We can confirm that the USGA was invited to do club testing at the PGA Championship, at the PGA of America’s request.
“That testing program is consistent with the same level of support that the USGA provides to the PGA Tour and other championships, as part of their regular programs for driver testing. The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the program. That was the case at Quail Hollow this week.
Rory McIlroy’s driver was deemed non-conforming by the USGA ahead of the PGA Championship
“Finding driver heads that have crept over the line of conformance is not an unusual occurrence, especially for clubs that are hit thousands of times over a long period of time.
“The results are kept confidential to protect players, who are unaware the club has fallen out of conformance and not responsible for it falling out of conformance other than hitting the club thousands of times. Players are simply asked to change heads if necessary, and all do without issue.
“To publicly identify players whose club did not conform can lead to that player being questioned unnecessarily. Neither the USGA nor the PGA of America have any concerns about player intent.”
How common is a non-conforming driver?
Normal wear and tear of a driver can make it non-conforming, with it possible to be within the limits for one tournament and then – through usage – be outside of the limits in the next.
Sky Sports understands McIlroy was one of around 10 players who had non-conforming drivers this week and all had to make those changes. McIlroy would have had replacement driver matching his exact specifications, allowing a similar driver head to have placed on his existing shaft.
“This is something that happens week to week on the PGA Tour,” Johnson Wagner, a former winner on the PGA Tour, told PGA Championship Radio. “It’s unfortunate this has happened in the week of a major and might have cost him a few shots – but he has done nothing wrong at all.”
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Rory McIlroy stuttered into the weekend on the cut mark after mixing six birdies with four bogeys during his second-round 69 at the PGA Championship
Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis said: “When a driver especially hits a golf ball so many times, and especially with the velocity that McIlroy brings to the golf ball, that head is going to wear down and that face is going to become thin.
“Ultimately, too thin for USGA standards and then it becomes non-conforming.”
Brandel Chamblee explained: “It’s not an indictment of the equipment company or the player, it’s just a mere fact that they’re right up against the edge. They’ve only got so many hits in them, then they either crack or they get too thin.”
What has McIlroy said?
McIlroy declined to speak to the media after each of his first two rounds, a decision that Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard described as ‘surprising’.
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Highlights from the final round of The Masters at Augusta National, where Rory McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam after beating Justin Rose in a play-off
“McIlroy is usually very accommodating with the media,” Hoggard said on Friday. “I was in New Orleans just a few weeks ago after that win at The Masters and he engaged every single day. It was a victory lap for him, so this is a little surprising.
“My guess is it has a little bit to do with how he’s driving the ball and a little bit to do with the fact he probably doesn’t want to answer a lot of questions about his driver getting tested.”
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley questioned the report not being made public, adding: “If the USGA – as reported – have found that the driver is illegal, then put out a statement accordingly so that we’re all clear on it and we move on.”
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Paul McGinley reacts to Rory McIlroy’s slow start at the PGA Championship and the possible reasons behind it
What makes a driver non-conforming?
One limit set by the USGA and the R&A is on a driver’s Characteristic Time (CT), which measures the time it takes for a club face to contact the ball and how long it spends in contact with the ball after impact.
It is essentially a measurement of the springiness of the clubface, which will be a factor in how far the ball can fly off the tee, with limits in the number of microseconds allowed when tested.
Rory McIlroy is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour
The governing bodies say a driver must not have CT of more than 239 microseconds, although they allow manufacturing tolerances of 18 microseconds to leave the CT limit at 257 microseconds. Anything more, and a driver will be considered non-conforming.
“That program is consistent with the same level of support that we provide to the PGA Tour as part of their regular program for driver testing,” a USGA spokesperson told Golfweek. “Tests are conducted prior to the start of play. The results are always confidential, as part of regular protocols.”
Who has been faced similar issues before?
Defending champion Xander Schauffele, who partnered McIlroy for the first three days at Quail Hollow this year, saw information about his non-conforming driver become public ahead of the 2019 Open.
Schauffele’s driver was one of 30 selected for random testing at the start of the week at Royal Portrush and found to be non-compliant, forcing him to use a different club in the first round before adjusting the original for rounds two and three.
Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele both made the cut on one over at Quail Hollow
“The R&A, they p***ed me off because they attempted to ruin my image by not keeping this matter private,” Schauffele said at the time. “This is me coming out and treating them the exact way they treated me.
“The only time I am an unhappy camper is when I feel like I’m treated unfairly. It is an unsettling topic. I’ve been called a cheater by my fellow opponents. It’s all joking, but when someone yells ‘cheater’ in front of 200 people, to me it’s not going to go down very well.”
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