GOLF | RICK BROADBENT
Rory McIlroy at his most downbeat before a major in a decade
After disappointment at Augusta, 34-year-old has decided to step back from war of words with LIV Golf
McIlroy wants to focus on his own game rather than continue serving as the PGA’s unofficial spokesman
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For a man who has put his head above the parapet, worn a flak jacket and not taken a backwards step in the tit-for-tat that has engulfed golf for a year, it took a single word to signal a change in approach from Rory McIlroy. Asked if he had taken a conscious decision to sidestep the LIV Golf narrative in the future, he said: “Yeah.”
It is a significant retreat on the eve of the year’s second major. Ever since the Saudi-bankrolled circuit became a reality, McIlroy, 34, has felt compelled to be the unofficial spokesman for the PGA Tour. In February last year, he said the series was “dead in the water”. Phil Mickelson was branded “naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant” over remarks about playing
