Rory McIlroy accused of being ‘out of touch’ following post-round comment at Bay Hill
Bay Hill played difficult on Sunday. As a result, fans got to see a back-and-forth event with the leaderboard constantly in flux for much of Sunday’s final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It was an exciting finish, and Kurt Kitayama (200-1 pre-tournament) ending up pulling off the shocking win over stars such as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton.
When speaking after his round, Rory McIlroy gave a bit of a strange response to what he believes fans want to see.
Rory today: "The lead's changing hands with guys making bogeys, not really birdies. So don't know how people find that entertainment value."
This is a point players, Tour often miss. We like when it's hard! We like seeing bogeys! Birdies aren't cool when everyone's making them!
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) March 6, 2023
Dan Rapaport of Barstool Sports added his opinion, saying,
“This is a point players, Tour often miss. We like when it’s hard! We like seeing bogeys! Birdies aren’t cool when everyone’s making them!”
Most of the twitter users replying to the tweet agreed.
I prefer birdies over bogeys however today was glorious
— Emerson Lotzia, Jr. (@EmersonLotzia) March 6, 2023
What separates players is not the easy but the challenging, fair but demanding. When you make it easy and favor birdies, you eliminate the mental grind side of the game, which makes it the most addictive
— Bhrett McCabe, PhD (@DrBhrettMcCabe) March 6, 2023
Kind of out of touch comment from Rory. Fans love tough golf more then 27 under micky mouse 🐀 cupcake 🧁 golf. Seeing the best have to struggle makes us all feel better about ourselves stinking. Not to mention more drama and unexpected twists then Birdie 🐤 fest golf.
— Drizza77 (@drizza77) March 6, 2023
It was a fantastic leaderboard with 4 guys at 8 and 3 at 7 in the last hour. What’s the problem?
— Todd Bailey, PGA (@ToddABailey) March 6, 2023
Such an odd take by Rory. It’s almost like he’s become a bit detached from real golf and become one of the elite who doesn’t understand what fans want.
— Golf Lover UK (@GolfloverUK) March 6, 2023
I'd rather watch and play a Tournament where Par on the last 9 Sunday is actually worth something. This Course set up where 6 to 7 birdies are made from dartboard greens is boring stuff.
— Scott Hend (@hendygolf) March 6, 2023
That’s why a hard US Open is such a good watch.
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) March 6, 2023
IMO Rory is out of touch with the audience here. Majority of golf fans that tune in every week enjoy watching players tackle new obstacles, new course challenges, not partake in birdie fests.
— Alec Kowalczyk (@AlecKowalczyk4) March 6, 2023
I think we can all agree that a difficult test on Sunday and watching the world’s best struggling a bit on the golf course to see who overcomes the challenge is what most golf fans want to see!
Article originally appeared on: Golfwrx.com
Best tournament of the year, so many in contention. Fans out there have their favorites but when players go back and forth it makes the game more interesting. Case in point. Listen to all those people at the end watching that 45 foot putt almost go in, they were ready to explode. People like the underdog and watching that last hour of coverage, it was as good as it gets.
More entertaining to see pros struggle around a course. That’s why I usually only watch the majors.