PGA Breaks Silence on Rory McIlroy's Driver Controversy

The PGA of America has broken its silence after it emerged Rory McIlroy's trusty driver did not clear a standard compliance check at the US PGA Championship.

A routine random inspection by the United States Golf Association (USGA) revealed issues with McIlroy's driver head before the start of the tournament at Quail Hollow. Such equipment scrutiny is common on the PGA Tour and at major tournaments to confirm compliance with official standards. Drivers are tested to ensure they adhere to regulations, as their faces can become thinner over time, which might result in increased ball speeds. However, they must still conform to the set USGA rules regarding performance, reports the Express.

Social media saw some groundless suggestions of foul play when information surfaced about McIlroy's driver non-conformance. He hasn't spoken to the media since his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, while both the PGA of America and the USGA held off from commenting when initial reports about the driver issue arose on Friday.

However, Kerry Haigh, the chief championships officer for the PGA, confirmed on Saturday through an official communication: "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 programme is consistent with the same level of support that the USGA provides to the PGA Tour and other championships, as part of their regular programmes for driver testing. The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the programme. That was the case at Quail Hollow this week. 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."

Haigh insisted that the organisation had no plans to reveal the names of any player whose driver did not pass muster prior to the event. He added: "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."

The mandated change of driver seems to have thrown McIlroy off his game this week. The Holywood star, hot off his victory at the Masters last month, was among the favorites going into the tournament. However, he had to battle just to make the cut after a tough first two rounds in North Carolina. And he fared little better during his third round, which saw him card a 72 to leave him at two over par, 13 shots off the lead, held by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler covered his last five holes in five under par to complete a superb third round of 65 and reach 11 under par, with Sweden’s Alex Noren his nearest challenger on eight under in just his second competitive start since October. Americans Davis Riley and JT Poston share third place on seven under, with Jon Rahm, halfway leader Jhonattan Vegas, and Si Woo Kim on six under.