Rory McIlroy believes the technology of golf equipment 'has passed' one of the PGA Tour's most well recognised courses, after the Holywood native gave a brutal assessment following the Travelers Championship.
McIlroy enjoyed another impressive week on the PGA Tour, as he followed up his second-place finish at the US Open with another top-10 in Connecticut on Sunday. The man who got his hands on the title was local star Keegan Bradley, who posted 23-under-par across the week, a Travelers Championship record.
The impressive scoring was a cause for concern for McIlroy though, who believes the ever-improving technology within golf equipment has made TPC River Highlands 'obsolete'.
Speaking post-round on Sunday, he said: "I don’t particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by. It has sort of made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had."
Technology has proven to be a hot topic within the sport in recent months, after the R&A and USGA outlined a proposal to limit the distance professionals are hitting the ball. Addressing the issue, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said back in March: "At the core of our proposal is a desire to minimise the impact on a flourishing recreational game.
"We believe the proposed Model Local Rule will help us move forward in a way that protects the inherent qualities of the sport and reduces the pressure to lengthen courses. This is an important issue for golf and one which needs to be addressed if the sport is to retain its unique challenge and appeal.”
This was something raised by McIlroy during his post-tournament round-up, who has been one of the few professionals to support the idea. He commented: "So, again, like the conversations going back to, you know, limiting the golf ball and stuff like that, when we come to courses like this, they just don’t present the challenge that they used to.”
Highlighting the simpler layout of TPC River Highlands, McIlroy gave a nod of approval to the challenge Los Angeles Country Club presents - the host of the recent US Open. "I think the blueprint for a really good golf course isn’t growing the rough up and making the fairways tight,” he added.
“That bunches everyone together. The blueprint is something like Los Angeles Country Club where you have wide targets, but if you miss it’s penal. This isn’t that sort of golf course. It’s not that sort of layout. It doesn’t have the land to do that. So, you know, unfortunately when you get soft conditions like this and you’ve got the best players in the world, this is what’s going to happen.”
