Global Courant
Rory McIlory was in the Top 10 again this week at a PGA Tour event at the Travelers Championship with an impressive 18-under after 72 holes.
Normally, such a performance would be more than good enough to win a tournament, but he finished tied for seventh place and five shots behind the winner at 23-under, Keegan Bradley. He set the tournament record with one shot.
TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. was given a shot by McIlroy after he said the course had essentially failed to adapt to the club and ball technology developed for the professionals.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland swings on the fourth green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 25, 2023 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
“I don’t really like it when a tournament is like this,” McIlroy explained via The New York Post. “Unfortunately, technology has passed this course, hasn’t it? It’s kind of made it obsolete, especially as soft as it was with a little bit of rain we had.”
Tournament officials were asked about conditions at TPC River Highlands this week as the pros scored well all along the course. With many rounds in the low 60s, officials said a cold spring, which is rare in the area, failed to firm the terrain.
KEEGAN BRADLEY WINS TRAVELER’S CHAMPIONSHIP, BREAKS TOURNAMENT RECORD BY ONE SHOT
Add in the rain McIlroy mentioned and the course softens even more, allowing for more aggressive play. When it comes to these PGA Tour pros, they salivate in such conditions because they know they can go on cones and fairways without the usual risk on other courses.
Take, for example, Los Angeles Country Club during last week’s US Open or Oak Hill Country Club for the PGA Championship. Justin Thomas and Max Homa were eliminated after two rounds at the Open and players like Jon Rahm and Tony Finau barely made it past Oak Hill.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland waits on the fourth green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 25, 2023 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Not every course has treacherous roughs and cunning greens like those two. Still, McIlroy, who has played pretty much everywhere on the Tour, made it a point to make a comment that shows he believes things need to toughen up there.
Still, he couldn’t score as high as he wanted. However, he had a tear as he entered his final round on Sunday, when he birdieed five of the first eight holes he played. But he couldn’t maintain that momentum for the entire lap.
Either way, it was a great payday.
“I knew I was never going to win with the way Keegan played, but I felt like I probably needed a few more birdies to finish Top 5,” said McIlroy.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot off the first tee during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 25, 2023 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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The Rocket Mortgage Classic is next on the PGA Tour roll at Detroit Golf Club, which owns a grade of 134, which measures the difficulty of the course. An average rating is 113.
Scott Thompson is a sportswriter for Fox News Digital.
