The meaningful press conference was over. PGA Tour media officer Doug Milne thanked Roddy McIlroy for his time and wanted to put him on his way at TPC Scottsdale.
“I can’t believe no one asked me a question of equipment!” McIlroy said.
“Well, we can reopen the pictures if you like?” Milne asked.
“Yes!” Said McIlroy, settling into the chair and crossing his arms. “I would be here all day for that.”
And that’s when it went on to send out the USGA and R&A for their news Tuesday that they are proposing three rule changes, as well as examining six other areas of interest, in a bid to prevent put at a distance at the elite level. This is now the latest installment of the Remote Insights Report by the governing bodies, which concluded that continued speed gains were having a negative impact on the future of the game.
McIlroy, a paid backup of TaylorMade equipment, said the report is a “huge waste of time and a huge waste of money,” when it will only affect “0.1%” of the game’s population.
“The authorities are looking at the game through such a tiny lens, that what they are trying to do is change something that belongs to 0.1% of the golf community,” McIlroy said. “Ninety-nine points nine per cent of the people who play this game play for pleasure, for entertainment. They do not need to be told which ball or clubs they will use.
“We need to make the game as easy and straightforward as possible for most golfers. Honestly, I think this Report on Distance has been a huge waste of time and a huge waste of money, because that amount of money it has spent to produce this report could be better distributed to bring people into the game, bring young children into the game, bring minorities into the game.
McIlroy feels that proposed equipment changes are short-sighted
“I heard Mike Davis say something about us trying to defend the game for the next hundred years – this is not how you do it. This is so small and insecure compared to other things happening in the game. It is the roots. It’s getting more people into golf. That’s where they should be spending their money, not spending it on the Remote Report. ”
McIlroy then stated, as he had done before, that it would be “all for” a bifurcation, in which both professionals and amateurs would play with a different set of rules.
“If they want to try and make the game harder for us, or try to bring more skill into the game, yes, I would be all for that, because I think it will only benefit the better player. , which I feel like I am, ”he said. “They may have said that in terms of local rules and maybe some kind of bifurcation, but we are so little about golf. Golf is much more than professional golf. We are so small. This is the other important thing, and that’s what they need to do. ”
In a subsequent TV interview, McIlroy said that such a distance project “enjoys self-importance. ”
“Yes, they are the gates of the game,” he said. “Their job is to make the game a success in a hundred years, but this is not the way to go. ”