Rory McIlroy seems like he's in the mood to talk in Augusta ahead of The Masters later this week.
Earlier today, the four-time Major winner spoke with Brian Wacker of Golf Digest, and provided an extremely honest assessment as to why the iconic course and event has gotten the better of him during his illustrious career to date.
Asked by Wacker which word springs to mind when he hears the words "The Masters," McIlroy responded:
Stressful.
I am, ask anyone who knows me, a complete prick in the week leading up to Augusta. But they understand and know that. It’s a stressful situation.
I've been in position before, and I haven't got the job done when I needed to, and I don't think that's anything to do with my game.
I think that’s more me mentally, and I’m trying to deal with the pressure of it and the thrill of the achievement if it were to happen. I think that’s the thing that’s really holding me back.
But he wasn't finished there. McIlroy's press conference earlier this evening earned significant acclaim from the golfing public. He paid tribute to Lexi Thompson, who lost the first LPGA Major of the year in disgraceful circumstances on Sunday, and explained what he's learned both as a golfer and a man in recent years.
Older, wiser, and altogether more comfortable, McIlroy's only shaky moment arrived when he was once more quizzed on his round of golf with a fuckhead named Donald Trump. It was a question from left-field, certainly, but the reporter related it to his comments about Muirfield Golf Club last month, when the 27-year-old described as "obscene" the club's decision to persist with all-male members, later exclaiming he wouldn't sit down for a cup of tea with any of its members.
He did, however, accept an invitation to spend a day with a man who has previously admitted to physically groping women, and one who has made a litany of offensive and derogatory remarks about women throughout his spell in the public eye.
Asked what the difference between Muirfield and Trump is from a moral standpoint, McIlroy hesitated before responding:
I think Muirfield Golf Club - or the honorable company of Edinburgh golfers - and the office of the President of the United States are two completely different things.
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.
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.
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.
