Rory McIlroy’s Poor Form at PGA Championship

Following a historic Masters win at Augusta last month, Rory McIlroy’s first outing since completing a career Grand Slam has not gone as he would have hoped. With two rounds of the PGA Championship played, McIlroy barely made the cut for the weekend by the skin of his teeth, sitting on one-over for the tournament.

The world number-two has emerged victorious on four occasions at Quail Hollow, but an inconsistent performance has left him nine shots adrift of the lead heading into Saturday’s round. His shots off the tee—normally his greatest strength—have left him trailing by such a margin. McIlroy is tied last for driving accuracy among the 74 players still in contention.

An explanation which could explain just why Rory has struggled so badly in recent days – and it relates to a decision made by PGA officials hours before the start of the tournament.

Rory McIlroy Denied Use of His Custom-Made Driver at PGA Championship

Northern Irishman has struggled to hit the fairway in the first two rounds of the tournament

A report from Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio has revealed that McIlroy’s TaylorMade Qi10 driver—the same one he used at the Masters—failed USGA testing on Tuesday.

According to ex-PGA Tour pro Johnson Wagner, this is nothing new for the world’s top players. However, it did mean that McIlroy was forced to remove the club from his bag for the tournament.

Wagner explained: “The USGA conducts these tests pretty much every year out here. They test all aspects of the face, and drivers fail all the time. Every single week, someone’s driver fails. It is by no fault of the player, they don’t know how to do it; It is a sophisticated testing system.”

He went on to explain that the Masters winner was not at any particular fault. “When you are a player like Rory McIlroy, who hits the ball as hard as he does, the face naturally thins out.”

PGA Championship top 5 after round 2
Position	Golfer	Score
1.	Vegas J.	-8
T2.	Fitzpatrick M.	-6
T2.	Kim S.W.	-6
T2.	Pavon M.	-6
T5.	Scheffler S.	-3

McIlroy ranks third on the tour for driving distance this season, but this last-minute equipment change has hampered the Northern Irishman’s progress off the tee, hitting the fairway on just ten occasions over Thursday and Friday with the substitute club.

No comment has been made by McIlroy’s camp, as he seems to be laser-focused on digging out of the hole he has found himself in. A nine-shot margin is considerable, but nothing McIlroy hasn’t faced before. In fact, his first victory at Quail Hollow came under strikingly similar circumstances.

Back in 2010, the then-20-year-old just made the cut at +1, nine shots off the lead, and recovered to take the victory courtesy of a stunning 62 on the final day. McIlroy will need to produce a similar comeback if he is to add to his impressive career haul of PGA Championship wins – and he’ll have to do so with an unfamiliar driver too.