Rory was 'pissed off' driver test leaked at PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy met with media at the Canadian Open on Wednesday, marking the first time the Masters champion has spoken publicly since his driver was deemed nonconforming at the PGA Championship in May.

McIlroy's driver was one of those flagged in the buildup to the event at Quail Hollow, forcing him to use his backup in the season's second major. He struggled off the tee all week, hitting less than 50% of his fairways en route to a 47th-place finish.

The 36-year-old declined to speak with media after all four rounds.

"I was a little pissed off because I knew that Scottie's (Scheffler) driver had failed on Monday, but my name was the one that was leaked," McIlroy explained, according to ASAP Sports. "It was supposed to stay confidential. Two members of the media were the ones that leaked it.

"Again, I didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted, either, because there's a lot of people that - I'm trying to protect Scottie. I don't want to mention his name. I'm trying to protect TaylorMade. I'm trying to protect the USGA, PGA of America, myself."

The report on McIlroy's driver came out Friday, but the media was unaware Scheffler also failed the test until Xander Schauffele mentioned it following his final round Sunday. It's not abnormal for a player to fail the test, and results are supposed to be confidential.

Both Scheffler and Schauffele have called for change to the testing process, as only a third of the field is tested.

While McIlroy admitted the driver issue played a role in his decision to skip media commitments, other factors were at play on each of the specific days.

"The PGA was a bit of a weird week. I didn't play well. I didn't play well the first day, so I wanted to go practice," McIlroy said. "Second day we finished late. I wanted to go back and see Poppy before she went to bed. The driver news broke - didn't really want to speak on that. Saturday I was supposed to tee off at 8:20 in the morning. I didn't tee off until almost 2:00 in the afternoon - another late finish, was just tired, wanted to go home. Then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida."

McIlroy is bringing a new driver to the event in Canada this week, as Skratch's Ryan Barath reports the five-time major champ has a new TaylorMade Qi35 in the bag.

The trip north should be a friendly one for McIlroy, as he's thrived in Canada since playing for the first time in 2019. He won the title that year and in 2022. The tournament's move to the week before the U.S. Open has been a game-changer for McIlroy in his major prep.

"I told this story a little bit, but before playing in this event, 2016, 2017, 2018, I missed three cuts in a row at the U.S. Open, and since playing the Canadian Open the week before, I've had six top 10s in a row. So there's something to that."

McIlroy is looking to become the fifth player to win three Canadian Opens and head to Oakmont in great form to challenge for a sixth major title.