McIlroy Again Says “Sorry Members” As He Now Ranks Royal Melbourne ‘Third Best In Melbourne’.

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Rory McIlroy may find himself even in deeper troubled waters with members after an adjusted Royal Melbourne course ranking just weeks after his controversial ‘Royal Melbourne is not the best course in Australia’ comment.

In McIlroy’s up-dated opinion of Australia’s top-ranked course he now ranks Royal Melbourne the third best in Melboure.

McIlroy had been outspoken earlier this month and on the eve of the Crown Australian Open when declaring: “I don’t want the membership to take this badly, but it’s probably not the best course in Melbourne,” he said.

“I think, that’s my opinion, but it’s certainly in the top 10 in the world.”

Asked at the time what was the best course in Melbourne, McIlroy had no doubt that honour belonged to Royal Melbourne’s neighbour Kingston Heath and host to the 2026 Australian Open that McIlroy has also been funded handsomely to attend.

It was not the best of weeks earlier this month for McIlroy, returning to Australia for a first time since capturing the 2013 Australian Open and also having to deal with the tricky conditions over the opening days in Melbourne.

McIlroy never really got into top gear finding himself being truly punished for some forgettable shots, including sending tee shots into trees and also having to play off a banana skin after a poor drive left on day three.

The Northern Irishman, and all set to be knighted at year’s end, was never in contention and eventually posted 20 birdies but also 11 bogeys and a lone double to eventually share a distant 14th place.

Now in a lastest Royal Melbourne serve, McIlroy was being hosted by the US-based Shotgun Start podcast team and among many questions golf’s newest Grand Slam winner was asked was about his Royal Melbourne experience.

McIlroy accepted the question but quickly began to smile and closing his mouth before starting to turn his head from side-to-side and then stopping to declare: “Third best course in Melbourne”.

Third best!  It was just some three weeks he ranked it second best in the Victorian capital.

Much of what McIlroy said on the podcast is much a repeat of his ‘please explain’ comments from his Australian Open interview.

“My thing about Royal Melbourne … the green complexes are amazing.  Yeah, absolutely incredible and again going back to all the fairway bunkers on the course there might be one that is in play,” he said to Shotgun Start.

“There is a lot of blind tee shots.  You don’t really get to hit a lot of drivers off the tee not that you have to hit drive but then have to hit drive but it would be great if everything was scaled back a little bit and then the golf course would play the way it should play.

“But I just think nowadays it’s not quite what it once was.  Look, maybe it is a great golf course and maybe it’s just that technology has made it … I don’t want to say obsolete but technology has passed it by a little bit.

“I one think I would say, and I talk about Kingston Heath and even like the Victoria Club … Kingston Health makes you hit all the clubs in your bag where at Royal Melbourne, I felt like it didn’t … the only hit four and five, and 6-irons off the tees at the par-4s.  I didn’t really hit them … even the par-5s were pretty short.

“So, that’s where I feel like it didn’t get you hitting a range of shots.  We played Royal Melbourne in a couple of different winds and again, it is an amazing set of greens and the surrounds, and the bunkering and all of that.

“But from tee until you you reached the green, I felt like there was going to be more.

“So not to offend Royal Melbourne members but (shaking his head to one side) sorry”.

You’re a brave man Rors but then with all due respect to your stature in the game as maybe there is many within the famed club who agree and you never know, as maybe there is many who agree.

 



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