Rory McIlroy taking a break from social media after Steve Elkington row
Thursday 6 July 2017 09:35, UK
Rory McIlroy is taking a break from social media in response to his Twitter row with Steve Elkington during the US Open last month.
The world No 3 missed the cut by four shots at Erin Hills despite making four birdies over his last six holes of his second round, and Elkington accused the Northern Irishman of looking "bored" on the golf course while hinting that McIlroy was comfortable with "100mill in the bank".
McIlroy admitted he thought long and hard about responding to the 1995 PGA champion, but he could not resist the temptation and replied: "More like 200mil... not bad for a "bored" 28 year old... plenty more where that came from."
The four-time major winner expressed his regret over becoming embroiled in the altercation, and he said: "I must have wrote that Tweet and deleted it about five times before I actually sent it. And yeah, it's one of those things.
"I sort of regret sending it at the end but I actually gave my wife, Erica, my phone and my Twitter and told her: 'Change my password to something else and don't tell me what it is'. So as of the time being, I'm off social media just because of that reason. I don't need to read it. It's stuff that shouldn't get to you and sometimes it does.
"It's not what was said, it was who said it. Anyone that's been in that environment should realise how hard golf is at times, and I think that's the thing that got to me more than anything else.
"If it was written by a member of the media or something, I could let it slide because I can say they don't really know how it is and they don't know what you have to deal with. But a former player that has won a major and been successful; that's why it got to me and that's why I retaliated a little bit."
McIlroy was speaking at his press conference ahead of this week's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Portstewart, where he is the tournament host for the third year running, and he is looking forward to getting some links competition both in Ireland and Scotland next week before he heads to Royal Birkdale for The 146th Open.
The 28-year-old clinched his first Irish Open title in some style at the K Club last year, hitting two of his best shots of the season at the 16th and 18th to seal a three-stroke victory over Russell Knox and Bradley Dredge as Masters champion Danny Willett faded down the stretch.
"I'm very proud to be sitting here as defending champion," he added. "The Irish Open is a title I've wanted to win since I was a young boy, and to realise that dream last year was very special. Not only because of just winning, but in the fashion that I won, and it was definitely one of the highlights of my golfing career.
"It will be great to have a chance to defend it this year, and I feel like I'm playing well enough to be able to have a chance.
"Moving it from May to July, you have a better chance of some great weather and you're playing links golf leading up to The Open. That's not just the reason I'm here; it's the reason I'm playing in The Scottish Open next week as well, just to get some links golf and be competitive."
McIlroy has not won a major since collecting his fourth at the PGA Championship in 2014, but he is confident of being in contention at Royal Birkdale in a fortnight having played a practice round at the Open venue last week, while he is also looking forward to returning to a happy hunting ground at Quail Hollow for the final major of 2017 next month.
"I've got two big opportunities coming up this summer," McIlroy said. "Birkdale is a golf course I feel I can do well at. I played there on Thursday and I got a really good feel for what I need to do around it and what parts of your game you need to have in good order.
"And then Quail Hollow for the PGA, I've won there two times, my first win on the PGA Tour and last time I won by seven. I got beat in a play-off before, as well, with a couple of top 10s. It's a course I've got great memories and I've played well on before. I think they are two opportunities for me to get back on the major ladder and start to win those again.
"My form has been up and down obviously, with the injury and everything, and it's been a bit of a stop-start year. But there is enough good in there. I've played a lot over the past couple of weeks, and I signed off at the Travelers with a 64 and played really well.
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"I've played quite a bit of links golf over the past 10 days since being home. You never quite know until you're out there in the heat of competition, but my game feels in good shape. I don't want to talk myself up too much, but my game is feeling good."
