Rory McIlroy’s Controversial Take on Slow Play: Defending the Indefensible or Speaking the Hard Truth?

Amid the division in golf, there has been an internal conflict which has been a major concern for the leagues. The unavoidable pace of play issue has been the top topic of discussion in the golf world. Starting off with the first event of the 2025 calendar year, the Sentry. Now coming almost at the end of the month, it has been seen even at the International Series India.

While netizens are opposing the issue, Rory McIlroy has chosen to be on the other side of it. Despite being a co-founder of TGL, which promotes a shot clock, the golfer has turned out to support slow play, which critics do not like. An in-depth discussion was done on the Foreplay podcast’s recent video.

While opposing the golfer, Trent, a panelist on the podcast, shared his thoughts. He said, “I do think he came out a bit stubborn with the pace of play thing.” He continued to point out that there are things that need to be addressed. Also, how McIlroy has looked at the issue is totally opposite to what Justin Thomas thinks.

Further, he expressed, “he’s [Rory McIlroy] saying, he likes it the way that it is but like there is a viewership and that of people who don’t like it the way that it takes so long.” As pointed out by Trent, the fact that the PGA Tour event has struggled as compared to the previous season in terms of viewership is true. The Sentry saw a 34% decline, while the American Express saw a 56% downside.

Even his statements were collated with his career. During the podcast, Trent continued saying, “I thought he came off a little stubborn with that where was just like things are pretty good, you know. He’s Rory McIlroy, he’s had a great life in the game of golf. Like he’s made a sh-t ton of money, of course, he’s happy with it.”

The disheartening expression from fans and even from the rest of the golf world is nothing that wasn’t expected. The statement of the 35-year-old, instead of supporting the fans, was totally on the other side.