
Rory McIlroy makes key change to his bag ahead of US Open after failed PGA test
Superstar Rory McIlroy has made a major driver change just weeks after his non-conforming drama at the PGA Championship.
The Northern Irish star admitted he was 'p****d off' after news leaked that his main weapon had failed a routine test at Quail Hollow.
McIlroy had to change just prior to the event and didn't show his usual sparkle off the tees as he toiled down the field behind winner Scottie Scheffler.
The career Grand Slam star is now back into competition mode at the RBC Canadian Open after being absent since the PGA with a new and different driver in the bag.
McIlroy started out at TPC Toronto with a TaylorMade Qi35 driver and had reasonable success with nine out of 14 fairways hit on day one, despite a frustrating opening effort of one-over par.
The work will continue ahead of next week's US Open at Oakmont as the five-times Major winner aims to make it half a dozen in Pennsylvania and made up for last year's heartbreaking loss on the final green to Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst.
McIlroy reflected on using the new tool on day one in Canada as he said: 'It's hard with the driver. With the one I had been playing with previously, my miss with it was a little bit left.
"And then my miss with this one is a little bit right, so it's just trying to figure out that and manage it a little bit.
'But a nice feeling to be able to aim up the middle of the fairway and fully release it and know it's not going to go left on you.'
McIlroy starts out on day two with a job to make the weekend's play as he currently sits 10 shots behind leaders Thorbjorn Olesen and Cristobal Del Solar and fighting to make the cut with a current position of tied-199th on the standings.
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
We're also on WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scottish Sun
12 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Ben Doak stars for Liverpool in pre-season with youngster earning rave reviews before key Scotland fixtures
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BEN DOAK burst onto the Scottish national scene last year as Steve Clarke brought the youngster into the fold. But the Liverpool star who was on loan at Middlesbrough last campaign had his season cut short by injury. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 3 Ben Doak is back firing for Liverpool this pre-season Credit: Getty 3 Which will be music to the ears of the Tartan Army Credit: Kenny Ramsay 3 He squeezed the ball into the net from this tight angle against Athletic Bilbao Credit: CBS SPORTS GOLAZO Rumours have been swirling this summer about a potential Liverpool exit for the ex-Celtic youngster, with Merseyside rivals Everton linked with the winger. But Doak has been involved heavily in Arne Slot's pre season even starting Monday night's clash with Athletic Bilbao. The winger impressed in his 56 minute showing against the Reds European opposition. He played a crucial part in helping Liverpool go into a two nil lead early on, putting a key cross in to the box which Darwin Nunez eventually finished off. The young Scotsman also thought he ended up on the score sheet as his strike ended up in the back of the net, but it went down as an own-goal. Despite not officially making it on the score-sheet, Liverpool fans raved about the youngster's performance on social media. Liverpool posted an image of the youngster on X, and fans made their feelings known in the replies. "I have a LOT of faith in Ben Doak" one fan replied. Another added: "Our future's extremely bright." "It was a cross good approach play by him, direct, making things happen," said another. COFFEE CLUB Has Ben Doak been mishandled by Scotland manager Steve Clarke? A fourth supporter called him a "special talent". A Celtic fan also replied, pleading to Doak's former club to snap the youngster up on a loan deal. He featured just twice for the Hoops before his move to Liverpool, one of those appearances coming in an Old Firm. But he has heavily impressed for Scotland, and has picked up six caps for his country. In a squad that lacks wide players, Ben Doak is exactly the type of player that Steve Clarke needs. And the Tartan Army will be relieved to see the electric winger back firing for the Reds. Scotland have key World Cup qualifiers coming up this year, starting with games against Denmark and Belarus in September. With his pre-injury form for Scotland, many fans will be calling for the youngster to be thrown straight back into Steve Clarke's starting 11. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page


Times
26 minutes ago
- Times
Russell Martin warns Rangers players: ‘Get with the programme or get out'
Russell Martin has no concerns about his Rangers players reacting negatively to his weekend lambasting of their collective mentality. The new Ibrox head coach unloaded on his men for a perceived lack of effort and desire in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell and expects a response in Tuesday night's Champions League third qualifying round, first leg tie at home to Viktoria Plzen. Insisting that his remarks came from 'a place of love', Martin said that if they caused players to retreat further into their shells, it would tell him something fundamental about their character. 'If it has a detrimental effect on certain individuals, then they're probably not the ones we want to come on the journey with us,' the former Southampton manager acknowledged. 'If it has a detrimental effect on you and it hurts you to the point where you feel singled out, then there's probably an issue with you being all-in at this place and this club and with us. So I don't have any worry about it being detrimental on the team. Whenever I've questioned any of our teams in the past about attitude, the response has been fantastic. 'I've not said one thing addressing them and then told you [the media] another thing. They've heard exactly what I've said to you guys in addressing them. So I guess this is where you learn a lot about people. And I'm really comfortable because I know where it comes from. It's not a concerted effort to out anyone or to try to beat someone. 'I'm going to be honest with everyone. They've served us well so far. I'm pretty sure they'll serve us well again and we'll be really successful. We just have to get through some teething problems.' Some supporters and pundits have questioned the wisdom of Martin going so hard so early with his new charges, having only overseen three games thus far. But the 39-year-old maintains that he will always be true to his principles in how he deals with his players as well as how he sets them up on the pitch. 'It's not a choice that we only sometimes need to [be honest] and sometimes not. That's how I feel in life in general and in my job. It's how I've been for six years with the players. There's been a couple of times when I've done it at previous clubs and never had to do it again. 'I'm just always going to be honest with the players and the supporters. I'm not here to play any games and be political and all that. I'm in a job that demands certain things and when we fall short of that there's just no point in hiding behind stuff. The fundamental problem on Saturday was not knowledge, it was not ability, it was attitude. I wasn't emotional on Saturday, it was exactly what I said to the players. 'This football club and the supporters will demand certain things that are not acceptable and certain things that they have to be shown every single minute you're on the pitch. It's the same old stuff I said from day one, which is fight, willingness to run, to help each other out. 'It is hard to play for this club, it's not for everyone, it's not easy. You have to be a really resilient and strong person. The self-preservation stuff I spoke about happens throughout football. It's really difficult when you're having tough moments and you slip back into trying to protect yourself, but actually that doesn't help. So I have empathy for players when it gets tough, but it's always got back to being really horrible and hard to play against. We weren't hard enough to play against on Saturday, so that's what it came down to. There's no point in sugarcoating it, the players know what to expect. 'We have a lot to improve and work on. But the stuff to improve needs to be technical, tactical. While we're building and changing so much, the things that we need to work on can't be mentality. It has to be the rest of it, the detail, the technical stuff, the tactical stuff. Let's build it on the basis of a really strong mentality wherever we go. That has to be the bottom line.' Mentality has long been considered a problem under a succession of Rangers managers, and while Martin has threatened to 'leave behind' those who cannot or will not shape up on this front, it is unclear how this might be possible in the context of a bloated squad. In the same post-match address at Fir Park, Martin said that only Cyriel Dessers had attracted a bid or serious interest so far this summer. 'There's plenty of time before the end of the window. I'm pretty sure all the players in here want to be part of something. And if, at the end of it, they don't want to be here, I don't want to force anyone to be at the football club. And it's up to their agents to find the right people for them and for us. 'We need to create better habits throughout the whole team, throughout the whole club. And habits that we can actually rely on when times get tough. Rather than the whole piece falling apart and imploding and all of that stuff. Which I think is, when I speak to the staff and the players, what's happened before. So we have to create better habits, a better foundation of performance. Some principles that are non-negotiable all the time.' Martin expects a 'tough' examination from Plzen, who reached the last 16 of last season's Europa League and effected a spectacular turnaround in the second leg of their most recent top-tier qualifier against Servette [winning 3-1 in Switzerland]. 'They're really, really powerful, really strong. Play forward quickly, run forward quickly. It's a really different test than the Panathinaikos one. They have real strength in certain areas, but we have to try to turn the game, especially at Ibrox, into the game that we want. Move the ball quickly, better than we did the other day. But we have to really be up for the fight against these guys because they're really strong, they're together and they're a powerful team.' Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane will again miss out as they recover from minor injuries, while work was ongoing on Monday evening to add the new signings Oliver Antman (the Finland winger who has joined from Go Ahead Eagles for around £4m) and Mikey Moore to the Champions League squad ahead of the 11pm deadline. ● Celtic have been drawn to face either Kairat Almaty or Slovan Bratislava in the Uefa Champions League play-off round, with the winners progressing to the league phase and a bounty in excess of £40million. The first leg will take place at Celtic Park on August 19 or 20, with the Scottish champions hitting the road the following week. Should Russell Martin's team see off Viktoria Plzen, they will face RB Salzburg or Club Brugge in the play-offs. Rangers would be at home in the first leg of that tie too. In the Europa League play-offs, Aberdeen will play either Romanian side FCSB — formerly Steaua Bucharest — or Kosovan club Drita. If Hibernian beat Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round of the Conference League they will face Cypriots AEK Larnaca or Legia Warsaw of Poland. Likewise, should Dundee United get past Rapid Vienna they will meet AIK Stockholm of Sweden or Hungarians ETO FC Gyor in the same competition. Rangers v Viktoria PlzenChampions League qualifying, third round, first legIbrox, 7.45pmRadio (not selected for TV coverage) BBC Radio Scotland


The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Novak Djokovic pulls out of Cincinnati and will not play before US Open
Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, the final warm-up tournament before the US Open. It marks the second straight year that the Serbian has withdrawn from the event, and means that he will not have played a competitive match between his loss to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals and the start of the US Open - a gap of almost a month and a half. A spokesperson for the Cincinnati Open, which begins on 7 August, confirmed that Djokovic had withdrawn. He also withdrew from this month's Canadian Open, another Masters 1000 event, which is currently underway. In recent years Djokovic - ranked the world No 6 - has opted for a fairly sparse calendar, choosing to preserve his body and aim to peak for the grand slam tournaments as he searches for a 25th major title. This time last year he withdrew from Cincinnati after winning Olympic gold, the one significant title which had eluded him throughout his career, and did not play between his Paris triumph and the US Open. He suffered a surprise defeat in the third round in New York to Alexei Popyrin. A lack of match sharpness has not been a major issue for him this season so far: Djokovic did not play between reaching the semi-finals at the French Open, when he also lost to Sinner, and Wimbledon, but produced a fine run to make the last four again. The 38-year-old said after his exit at Wimbledon, 'It's just age, the wear and tear of the body. As much as I'm taking care of it, the reality hits me right now. 'It's tough for me to accept that because I feel like, when I'm fresh, when I'm fit, I can still play really good tennis. I've proven that this year. But I guess playing best-of-five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. 'The longer the tournament goes, the worse the condition gets. I feel like I'm going into the match with the tank half empty. It's just not possible to win a match like that.' He has not won a grand slam since the 2023 US Open, with Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz winning the last seven majors between them. Sinner is the defending champion in New York. has been granted a wildcard spot in the 16-strong draw alongside compatriot Olga Danilovic.