Adam Scott has joked he “would like to struggle” like Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman filed for divorce ahead of the PGA Championship and then once again played well. McIlroy struggled for form in 2023, with success at the Genesis Scottish Open his only title win of the year.
But he has won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship in the last month and appears to be returning to his best. He finished 12-under at the PGA Championship and ended tied for 12th but just three shots off fourth. After news of McIlroy’s divorce was announced, Scott responded to the off-course drama around his rival.
He told a reporter: “Maybe I need to struggle a little more like Rory on the golf course! I would like to struggle like he does. If it’s affecting his play, it’s hard to see. He’s played incredibly for a long, long time.”
McIlroy’s attention may have been taken away from golf last year as he was a player director on the PGA Tour policy board and played a leading role in talks between the PGA and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, with a link-up between the two organisations currently on the cards.
But he stepped away from the role to concentrate on his game amid a downturn in fortunes. And Scott has a theory that the four-time Major winner thought his duties away from the golf course were distracting him on it.
“Maybe he thought it held him back from some success,” continued Scott, who is now on the PGA Tour’s transaction subcommittee and involved in negotiations with the PIF alongside Tiger Woods and McIlroy.
