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Rory McIlory was once again in the Top 10 of a PGA Tour event this week at the Travelers Championship with an impressive 18-under score after 72 holes.
Normally, a showing like that would be more than good enough to a win a tournament, but he finished tied seventh and five shots behind the winner at 23-under, Keegan Bradley. He set the tournament record by one shot.
TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. took a shot from McIlroy after he said the course has basically failed to adapt to the club and ball technology that has evolved for the professionals.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland waves on the fourth green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 25, 2023 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
"I don’t particularly like when a tournament is like this," McIlroy explained via The New York Post. "Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by, right? It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft as it has been with a little bit of rain that we had."
Tournament officials were asked about the conditions at TPC River Highlands this week due to the pros scoring well all over the course. With many rounds in the low 60s, the officials said a cold spring, which rarely happens in the area, didn’t allow the grounds to firm up.
KEEGAN BRADLEY WINS TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP, BREAKS TOURNAENT RECORD BY ONE SHOT
Add in the rain that McIlroy mentioned, and the course becomes even softer, allowing for more aggressive play. When it comes to these PGA Tour pros, they salivate at conditions like these because they know they can go at pins and fairways without the usual risk at other courses.
Take Los Angeles Country Club for example at last week’s U.S. Open or Oak Hill Country Club for the PGA Championship. Justin Thomas and Max Homa were cut after two rounds at the Open and players like Jon Rahm and Tony Finau barely scraped by at Oak Hill.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland waits on the fourth green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 25, 2023 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Not every course is going to have treacherous roughs and cunning greens like those two. Yet, McIlroy, who has played virtually everywhere on Tour, made a point to make a comment that shows he believes it needs to get tougher out there.
Nonetheless, he wasn’t able to score as high as he wanted to. He was off on a tear to start his final round Sunday, though, when he birdied five of the first eight holes he played. But he couldn’t keep that momentum pushing throughout the round.
It was a great pay day either way.
"I knew I was never going to win with the way Keegan was playing, but I felt like I probably needed a couple more birdies to finish Top 5," McIlroy said.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the first tee during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 25, 2023 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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The Rocket Mortgage Classic is next on the PGA Tour docket at Detroit Golf Club, which owns a 134 slope rating, measuring the course's difficulty. An average rating is 113.