U.S. Open
U.S. Open 2025: Brandel Chamblee calls Rory McIlroy's refusal to speak with the media 'puzzling'
Ross Kinnaird
OAKMONT, Pa. — Despite his valiant effort to make the cut, Rory McIlroy once again skipped out on speaking to the media following his second round at Oakmont on Friday. Hardly surprising given he was clearly in no mood, as evidenced by his club-throwing and tee-smashing antics.
Plus, that's just sort of his thing now, at least since the PGA Championship, where he refused to speak after any of his four rounds. The working theory was that McIlroy was pissed that his name was leaked as one who had a non-conforming driver. But after hitting a USGA official with a "No, I'm good" in response to a request for media availability after his second-round 72, marking the second straight day he took a pass, some have begun to wonder if there is something deeper going on.
Enter Brandel Chamblee, who is never afraid to weigh in on a hot-button issue in golf. Outside of the ball rollback or the length of Oakmont's rough this week, the players vs. media issue may be the preeminent topic in the sport right now, and McIlroy is serving as the face of it.
As Chamblee pointed out in a lengthy rant on X/Twitter Saturday morning, no player has been better with the media over the last 15 years than McIlroy, making his behavior all the more "puzzling."
"I think he is lithe enough to understand this is a bad long term strategy," Chamblee continued. "Fans are fickle. They are incredibly generous to those who give back to them and vicious to those who turn their backs to them.
"Given that Rory is one of the game’s biggest leaders, him not talking has tricky normative implications in my opinion. Why have past greats (Tiger almost always talked, even after poor rounds) been so generous with the media? Perhaps it’s out of a sense of duty, following a custom passed down to them by the players that came before them who understood that the debt you pay to those who elevated the game before you is by elevating the game for those who come after you.
"I hope Rory reconsiders his opposition to talking to the media after rounds, because it sends a message to his peers and to those young players who will be on the tour in the coming years."
These are some more than fair points from the Golf Channel analyst, though they will undoubtedly be taken the wrong way on the internet. Some will point to his Tiger Woods example as a bad one, as Woods, who did always speak to the media, didn't exactly let anybody in. The point is, though, he still understood it was part of the job. The same goes for Jack Nicklaus, who said recently at his Memorial Tournament that he felt an obligation to speak to the media regardless of his play that day.
"I've always felt that you guys have a job to do, and you gals," Nicklaus said. "And for you to do your job, you need to talk to me. And whether I played well or whether I played poorly, if you still want to talk to me, I'll talk to you. And I always have."
Clearly, not everybody feels the same way.