Rory McIlroy laments modern equipment again after Travelers

Not for the first time, Rory McIlroy detailed his concerns about modern golf equipment after posting a top-1o finish in the Travelers Championship.

The four-time major champion closed with a 64 – his second of the week – to finish 18-under-par in a low-scoring week at TPC River Highlands.

All told, 44 players finished double digits under-par, with two rounds of 60, one 61 and five 62s recorded across the week.

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As far as McIlroy is concerned, that’s not a good thing and is, he says, more a consequence of arrow than Indian.

“I don’t particularly like when a tournament is like this,” said the 34-year-old. “Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by. It has sort of made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had.

“So, again, like the conversations going back to, you know, limiting the golf ball and stuff like that, when we come to courses like this, they just don’t present the challenge that they used to.”

That last remark is a nod to the proposal tabled by the R&A and USGA to limit the distance that the golf ball travels for elite players.

Announced in March, the change would “reduce hitting distance by 14 to 15 yards on average for the longest hitters with the highest clubhead speeds.”

Despite his lucrative endorsement deal with TaylorMade, McIlroy came out in favour of the proposal and, judging by his comments at the Travelers, it doesn’t appear like his mind his been changed.

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“I think the blueprint for a really good golf course isn’t growing the rough up and making the fairways tight,” he added. “That bunches everyone together.

“The blueprint is something like Los Angeles Country Club where you have wide targets, but if you miss it’s penal. This isn’t that sort of golf course. It’s not that sort of layout. It doesn’t have the land to do that.

“So, you know, unfortunately when you get soft conditions like this and you’ve got the best players in the world, this is what’s going to happen.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor