PGA Championship Breaks Silence After Rory McIlroy Decision
Just a day before the PGA Championship was set to tee off, Rory McIlroy was forced to make a significant change to his bag.
Arguably one of the best drivers of the golf ball on planet Earth, the five-time major champion learned his best club had fallen out of favor with the PGA of America. The driver McIlroy planned to use in the tournament was deemed “no longer permissible” and he was not allowed to use it.
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Analyst and former professional golfer Johnson Wagner revealed details of the testing.
“The USGA conducts these tests pretty much every week out here on professional golf. They test it across all aspects of the face of the driver. Drivers fail all the time. Every single week somebody’s driver fails and it is by no fault of the player, they don’t know how to do it – it is a sophisticated testing system,” Wagner said.
After the story took on a life of its own Friday night into Saturday morning, the PGA of America issued a statement.
“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,” , Chief Championships Office, PGA of America said.
“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. 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 revealed the results of the test are kept confidential to protect golfers who are unaware the club has fallen out of conformance.
“Players are simply asked to change heads if necessary, and all do without issue,” he added. “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.”