Rory McIlroy would ‘think twice’ about tee-time with Donald Trump

No wonder Rory McIlroy finds the Masters stressful.

The world number two may be chasing history at Augusta National this week as he bids to become only the sixth player in golf to win a career grand slam but that does not stop him having to field questions about his judgement in playing a round with US President Trump.

His decision to accept an invitation to a game of golf from the leader of the free world has been dogging McIlroy since pictures emerged of his time on the course with Donald Trump back in February and the subject was raised once more last night as the 27-year-old faced the media during his pre-Masters press conference.

McIlroy was asked to differentiate between his vehement criticism of Muirfield’s readmission onto The Open rotation following a narrow vote by members of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers to admit women into its club and his decision to play golf with a politician caught on camera making disaparaging and sexist comments about women. And in his response he admitted he would think twice before accepting another invitation from President Trump.

“I think Muirfield Golf Club, or the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and the office of the President of the United States are two completely different things,” McIlroy said.

“I’ve spent time in President Trump’s company before, and that does not mean that I agree with everything that he says. Actually the opposite. You know, we’re in a day and age where... we were never in a day and age where we could say those things, but some thought it was appropriate.

“But whenever an invitation or a request comes my way, I don’t want to say I jump at the chance, but at the same time, you know, to see the secret service, to see the scene, I mean, that’s really what I was going for. I mean, there was not one bit of politics discussed in that round of golf. He was more interested talking about the grass that he just put on the greens.

“But, yeah, look, it’s a difficult one. I felt I would have been making more of a statement if I had of turned it down. It’s not a tough place to be put in, but it was a round of golf and nothing more.

“Would I do it again? After the sort of backlash I received, I’d think twice about it.”

McIlroy’s comments underlined his thoughts expressed in a US golf magazine published yesterday in which the Irishman was asked to offer the word that came into his head when he heard the word “Masters”.

“Stressful,” he told Golf Digest. “You ask anyone who knows me, I am a complete prick in the week leading up to Augusta. But they understand and know that. It’s a stressful situation.”

Remarkably, given the furore that surrounded his round with Trump, McIlroy is happy with his “quiet build-up” to this year’s Masters, at least in terms of the amount of competitive golf he has played, having taken time out with a fractured rib which has limited him to five starts this year.

“Yeah, I think it’s been a relatively quiet build-up to the Masters for me, which has been quite nice. It’s made a bit of a change from the last couple of years, especially ’15, coming off the back of two major wins in a row and going for the career Grand Slam. And even last year I felt like the spotlight was shared a little bit among a few guys. Obviously this year, with Dustin (Johnson) winning three times, he’s the form player right now and there’s a lot of story lines.

“I don’t feel like I can fly under the radar anymore, but at the same time, it’s sort of felt that way to me and it’s been nice to be able to prepare and just go about my business and try to get ready for this tournament.”

Stressed or not, McIlroy is looked upon by his rivals as a player to fear when his name appears on a tournament leaderboard. Even those as accomplished as Jordan Spieth, who has a green jacket in his possession that McIlroy craves and is the only other player other than the Irishman to record three top-10 finishes in the last three Masters, albeit with a victory as one of them.

“Rory McIlroy, he’s been there, done that,” Spieth said last night. “He’s a guy that you know that when you’re paired up, he’s been there and you don’t feel like you have that major championship-winning edge. So that would be somewhat of an edge that it would be mano-a-mano. It doesn’t matter if we’re here or somewhere else. It really doesn’t.

“I don’t say ‘I’ve won the Masters and he hasn’t’. Trust me, he’s certainly capable of it and he’ll win at least one.” Speith and McIlroy have been kept apart from the draw but it looks like the world number two will have some serious weather conditions to deal with as he tees up his first round alongside Spain’s Jon Rahm and Japan’s Hideto Tanihara. Winds gusting up to 35 miles per hour have been forecast for tomorrow afternoon, with McIlroy getting his Masters campaign under way at 1:41pm local time.

Weather aside, McIlroy’s to-do list for Masters success this year is straightforward.

“If I can make a three on (hole) four and a four on 11 every day this week I think I’ll be okay. I think I played those holes in nine over par last year.

“Around here you don’t take on too much. I think that’s the thing. I actually had a little conversation with Jack Nicklaus yesterday with Jack Nicklaus in Florida. That’s what he said. He said to me, ‘I took on too much a couple of times and it cost me a couple of green jackets’.

“I’m like, ‘well, you have six’. But he said, it is a golf course that can tempt you. It can tempt you into doing a little bit too much.

“I cast my mind back to the 11th hole on Saturday last year where I’m in the pine straw on the left and I’m trying to hit this low hook around and catch the hill and trying to get it up onto the green and hit this heroic shot and it goes in the water and I make a six. That’s the last thing I needed.

“Just little things like that where the golf course tempts you to do something.

“So it’s just a matter of being smart, taking your medicine when you have to and moving on.”