Rory McIlroy SLAMS Officials for Putting Him over Shot Clock at 2025 Irish Open

Rory McIlroy did not have the best of performances during the opening round of the 2025 Irish Open. The World No.2 would later slam the officials for putting him and his group on the shot clock very early on in the round.

A golfer is put on a shot clock when the group falls behind the group ahead of them. This is done to improve the pace of play of the game.

The slow passage of play has been a massive issue for the tours this year. McIlroy has found himself being criticized for slow play. During the first round of the Open Championship in July, he, Justin Thomas, and Tommy Fleetwood took nearly 6 hours to complete the round.

In the opening round of the Irish Open, McIlroy was put on the shot clock by the officials. While he did make a decent start, he ended up making some errors towards the end and finished the day with a 1-under 71 score.

After the round, the 5-time major champion vented his frustrations and slammed the officials for putting him on the clock. He expressed that he felt a bit rushed to complete his round.

I got frustrated the last few holes because I felt a bit rushed. We got put on the clock pretty early and then the first official went away and then we were put on the clock for the last three holes by another one. I feel like it always happens and I don’t think they use sort of common sense in terms of, well, of course we’re going to lose ground because we’re going to have to wait on crowds and wait on the two camera crews that are out there.

Rory McIlroy said

The Northern Irishman further added that they should get a bit of leeway regarding this. He went on to claim that this is something that happens to him often during his return to the European tour. In the end, McIlroy pointed out that something similar happened with him during The Players Championship as well, which made him lose his “s**t” with the official.