For all intents and purposes, Rory McIlroy had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad weekend at Oakmont during the U.S. Open.
Just a couple months ago, McIlroy finally accomplished a feat that had eluded him for more than a decade. As he exorcised the demons at Augusta, he won The Masters in a dramatic playoff becoming just the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam.
But since reaching the mountaintop, he has surprisingly appeared to be more aloof and burdened than ever before, feuding extensively with the media. Scott Van Pelt recently said he was “baffled” by McIlroy’s behavior, which included blowing off all four media sessions at the PGA Championship. That tension boiled over again at the U.S. Open, where McIlroy skipped out on post-round interviews the year prior and later explained that he feels he’s earned the right to do what he pleases.
According to Rory McIlroy, it’s not about ducking questions; it’s about frustration with the media itself, save for a few exceptions.
But if you’re baffled by McIlroy’s recent attitude shift, you’re not alone. So is Scott Van Pelt.
“I’m just baffled by what happened, like what’s going on,” Van Pelt said on his SVP Pod with Stanford Steve. “People are going to speculate about his life. I will not do that. The man’s life is his own business. He mentioned after yesterday, like, ‘I climbed my Everest, and I’m trying to come down the mountain.’ And I get that. I, in my life, haven’t ever, nor will I ever have a monumental accomplishment such as that — finishing off the career Grand Slam. I don’t know what comes afterward. You wonder, is it like, ‘I don’t have anything to chase. I don’t have a hill to climb.’ But that doesn’t, to me, explain just the fact that his resting posture seems pissed off at everyone. And I’m just baffled by it.
“To me, he is such a leader of a tour, has been incredibly accountable, more than anybody. And maybe he just reached the point where he’s like, ‘You know what? I’m f*cking done. I’ve done this forever, and now I feel like I’ve reached a point where I get to do whatever I want.’ Saying the quiet part out loud like that makes people go, ‘Oh, really? Well, that’s an interesting way to frame it.’ He just seems like he’s mad at everything and everybody. And that’s the part I don’t quite get.”
It’s a rare rebuke from one of the more measured voices in sports media. Scott Van Pelt has long respected Rory McIlroy, calling him one of the most accountable players on the Tour. So to hear him publicly wonder if Rory’s finally hit the “f*ck it” stage of his career speaks volumes. Even more telling is how perplexed he sounded — not angry, just disappointed that the guy who once carried the PGA Tour on his back now appears to want nothing to do with it.
And then there’s the Jack Nicklaus wrinkle.
“Not for nothing, the whole LIV thing led to these elevated events,” Van Pelt continued. “And then, Jack has an elevated event, and [Rory] doesn’t go, and he didn’t call him… That’s just, that’s poor form, is what that is.”
It’s one thing to keep the media at arm’s length. It’s another to ghost Jack Nicklaus, especially after the two reportedly worked together to help Rory chase down Augusta. For a player who has, for more than a decade, done nearly everything with polish and purpose, this feels more like a heel turn than a victory lap.
And as Van Pelt said, “odd” might be the only word that really fits.
“He just seems at odds with everybody,” the host of SportsCenter with SVP added. “And I don’t know, it’s just a curious sort of demeanor change that feels real abrupt, and it’s a real 180.”