McIlroy, responding to reports the books carried by most players in their back pockets may be on their way out as early as this fall, said he believes reading the way greens break is a skill that should be part of the game.
McIlroy’s comments come in the wake of a report in Golfweek that the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council voted earlier this month to outlaw the books, a vote that will go to the full tour membership for final approval.
While happy to have a crowd, USGA officials can only shake their heads at the timing.
“I had the question earlier today, why don’t you have 30,000, 40,000 people?” he said.
“I tried flying them at the house where there’s a lot of trees, and there’s not a whole lot of room to land them and take off.
The longtime USGA executive knew going into the Open that Woods was having problems with his leg — but didn’t know how big an issue it was.
“And that week, knowing he was playing on a leg that was fractured in a few places, the mental fortitude to know at impact you’re going to have that kind of pain and just to say, commit to that shot and do it, I’ll never forget it because just walking with him, the pain he was in.