Rory says he needs break from Twitter
Rory McIlroy is taking a break from social media after getting embroiled in a Twitter spat with fellow golfer Steve Elkington.
After McIlroy missed the cut by four shots at the U.S. Open last month, Elkington, a former U.S. PGA champion, tweeted that the Northern Irishman was “bored” of playing golf because he had plenty of money in the bank.
Four-time major winner McIlroy sent a tweet in response to Elkington, before posting a screenshot of his Wikipedia entry that lists some of his achievements in the game.
“I sort of regret sending it at the end,” McIlroy said Wednesday, “but I actually gave my wife, Erica, my phone and my Twitter and told her, ‘Change my password to something else and don’t tell me what it is.’
“So as of the time being, I’m off social media just because of that reason. I don’t need to read it. It’s stuff that shouldn’t get to you and sometimes it does.”
Speaking ahead of the Irish Open at Portstewart Golf Club, an event which benefits his own foundation, McIlroy said he would have ignored the criticism if it had come from a member of the public or media.
“But a former player that has won a major and been successful, that’s sort of why it got to me,” McIlroy said, “and that’s why I sort of retaliated a little bit.”
Home-field advantage?
Few players can claim a home game at a major, but Tommy Fleetwood is an exception. But not really. Fleetwood, who rose to No. 15 in the world with his victory in the French Open, grew up near Royal Birkdale in Southport. That’s not to suggest he knows the links course better than Phil Mickelson, who will be making his fourth appearance at Birkdale.
“It’s the one course in the area that I’ve probably got the least experience on, just because of the exclusivity of it — it’s Royal Birkdale,” Fleetwood said. “But I think looking at it and people wishing me good luck and people talking about it, it’s going to be an experience that I’ve never had in my life. And I think very few people get the chance to have a home crowd that’s massively in your favor.”
He has played at Birkdale, just not for very long.
Fleetwood said his father would walk the dog past the links every day.
“When I was 7 or 8, we used to sneak on and hit a few shots when nobody was looking,” he said.
They’ll be watching now.
It’s back
The plaque is back at Wimbledon.
And the All England Club insists there is a simple explanation for why the marker posted on a brick wall outside Court 18 — pointing out that it was the site of John Isner’s record-breaking 70-68 fifth-set victory over Nicolas Mahut in 2010 — was missing for a bit.
A spokesman for the club said the plaque was temporarily taken down for “refurbishment,” because there was “a little wear and tear” on the green-and-purple tournament logo at the bottom. She said a new logo was affixed to it, but otherwise it is the same sign that was there before.
The 6-10 Isner wondered about the official explanation.
“Why would they refurbish it?” Isner asked. “Even if they refurbished it, that would take 20 minutes.”
Seven years ago, Isner and Mahut, a Frenchman who lost in the first round this week, played the longest match in tennis history, an 11-hour, 5-minute marathon at Court 18 that stretched over three days in the first round.
The plaque announces in white capital letters on a black background that “the longest match” was played at that court “22nd-24th June 2010.” It also includes the score — 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (9), 7-3 (3), 70-68 — and notes the “match duration.”