Rory McIroy will no longer be taking part in a pre-tournament press conference ahead of this week’s Open at Royal Liverpool.
The Northern Irishman was initially scheduled to speak to the media on Tuesday at Hoylake as he prepares for the final men’s Major of the year before the R&A announced it had been cancelled.
“We have been advised that Rory McIlroy will no longer be taking part in a preview press conference tomorrow morning,” the statement read. “We apologise for the inconvenience but will be endeavouring to secure preview quotes which will be made available for media use.”
McIlroy’s US Open press conference last month was also cancelled and he didn’t speak to the written press before last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, which he went on to win.
The 34-year-old was one of the most vocal supporters of the PGA Tour against LIV Golf and admitted he felt like a “sacrificial lamb” during media duties at this year’s RBC Canadian Open following the shock merger news.
He went on to describe that press conference as the “most uncomfortable” he had felt in the previous 12 months, so it comes as no surprise he has decided to cut back on his public appearances.
If it is a conscious stance he has taken, it seems to have done him little harm. The 34-year-old hasn’t finished outside the top nine in his last six starts and arrives in Hoylake on the back of a sensational Scottish Open victory, in which he produced a finish worthy of winning any golf tournament to deny Robert MacIntyre.
McIlroy will hope the same approach this week will help him end his Major drought that extends back to the 2014 PGA Championship. Given his form and history at the Wirral layout, he is understandably among the favourites to lift the Claret Jug for the second time, having won by two from Rickie Fowler the last time the Open was contested at Royal Liverpool.
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