Rory McIlroy's Candid Comments on the Players and PGA Championship

The first signature event of the 2026 PGA Tour season is upon us. Eighty of the Tour’s best players will begin the week split between Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill over two days, before the field reconvenes at Pebble for the weekend.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy addressed the media on Tuesday. Below are a few highlights from a press conference filled with noteworthy commentary.

On the prospect of the Players Championship becoming a major

“I think the Players is one of the best golf tournaments in the world…I'm a traditionalist, I'm a historian of the game. We have four major championships. If you want to see what five major championships looks like, look at the women's game. I don't know how well that's went for them.

But it's the Players. It doesn't need to be anything else. I would say it's got more of an identity than the PGA Championship does at the minute. So from an identity standpoint, I think the Players has got it nailed… it is an amazing tournament in its own right and I don't think it being classified a major or not a major makes it any more or any less.”

On what the identity of the PGA Championship should be

“I think glory's last shot. I think it needs to go back to August.”

On changing back to blades after a brief dalliance with cavity-backed irons

“I felt like the cavity backs just had a little bit of a right bias in them. So whatever way the weight of the head was or whether it was the blade length, I would make swings that I feel like I'd make with my blades that would be a very neutral ball flight and then with the cavity backs they would start to tail off to the right.”

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On if he would consider trying his hand at designing golf courses in the future

“Yeah, in the future, I think…I think I know what I like, but I'd need to shadow someone that really knows what they're doing for a few years. If I want to do it, I want to do it well. I don't want to just slap my name on something that's mediocre. But right now I'm concentrating on playing golf courses. Maybe one day.”

On the fan behavior he expects in Ireland at the 2027 Ryder Cup in the wake of Bethpage

“I think that's up to the home team to set the tone early on in the week. If you see something or you hear something, you point it out straight away.“

I suspect some of those comments will circulate around Frisco – and perhaps within the Ballfrogs locker room!