Rory McIlroy aims five-word dig over ‘unfair advantage’ at PGA Championship | Golf | Sport

Rory McIlroy has hit back at claims he had an ‘unfair advantage’ heading into the 2026 Masters last month. McIlroy became just the fourth player in the history of the sport to win back-to-back Masters titles, and the first since legendary golf ace Tiger Woods.

McIlroy had proudly confessed he used his perks as a Masters champion to play the course several times in the build-up to the tournament, even flying in for practice rounds after dropping daughter Poppy off at school. He doubled down on the decision, saying they were much more productive than playing tournaments in Houston or San Antonio.

Smith claimed ‘nobody else’ was afforded such a luxury, but the TV host was met by a flurry of backlash, including opposition from fellow professionals. Michael Kim and Kevin Kisner were among those to rush to McIlroy’s defence, with the former dubbing it as the “dumbest argument ever”.

In the build-up to this weekend’s PGA Championship, McIlroy was asked about how he’d prepared for the event at Aronimink. With a smile on his face, the Northern Irishman said: “Just played it every day.”

McIlroy was speaking with tongue firmly in cheek, but he has once again staggered his preparations for the tournament. Since retaining his Green Jacket, McIlroy has played just one tournament, placing 19th at last week’s Truist Championship.

When pushed for an actual answer, McIlroy eventually said: “We played the BMW there in 2018, but the course played a lot differently. It was wet in 2018 and the greens didn’t play as fast or as severe as what I felt like they played last week when I played.”

He continued: “It’s not a long golf course, but the big defence is the greens and they can tuck the pins away if they want to. It was nice to get an early look at it. It just means that the week of the tournament you’re not under pressure to play a lot of holes.”

McIlroy is a two-time PGA Championship winner, but hasn’t won the second major of the year since 2014. He gets his campaign underway on Thursday, and has been placed in a group with Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth.