Rory McIlroy takes one big lesson from Scottie Scheffler as he decides to become a 'boring' golfer: 'People maybe wouldn't like to watch me play'

Rory McIlroy registered his first PGA Tour victory of the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on February 2. During the post-round press conference, McIlroy opened up about drawing inspiration from Scottie Scheffler. He said he wants to be effective on the course by controlling his impulses and being prepared to be "boring" to win tournaments.

"You know, there's impulses that I have on the golf course that it looks like Scottie [Scheffler] doesn't have and I have to -- I have to rein those in and I have to try to be a little more disciplined about it and that's what I'm trying to do."

The 27-time PGA Tour winner is one of the crowd favorites. McIlroy mentioned that he has a natural impulse to entertain the crowd. However, it has cost the Northern Irish golfer a bit in the past, and said he is trying to control his impulses to win more tournaments.

However, a journalist questioned him if he didn't have those impulses, would he be the same player?

"Yeah, that's the thing, it's I think if I didn't have the same impulses, people maybe wouldn't like to watch me play as much if that makes sense like I do feel that connection to the crowd of, you know, hitting certain shots or doing certain things that people get to enjoy I get enjoyment out of them too."

"But you know, people watching get enjoyment out of it. But I also understand that maybe isn't the best way to consistently win golf tournaments," McIlroy said.

This was Rory McIlroy's first start on the PGA Tour this year, and he started his season on a high note and is hopeful of continuing this momentum throughout the season now.

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How much did Rory McIlroy earn for winning the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am?

Rory McIlroy won the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as he carded -21 for the event and won the tournament. The Northern Irish golfer managed to win $3,600,000 for winning this event, along with 700 FedEx Cup points.

Here's the complete leaderboard of the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. (Top 30).

• Rory McIlroy (-21)
• Shane Lowry (-19)
• T3. Lucas Glover (-18)
• T3. Justin Rose (-18)
• T5. Russell Henley (-17)
• T5. Cam Davis (-17)
• T7. Tom Kim (-16)
• T7. Sepp Straka (-16)
• T9. Billy Horschel (-15)
• T9. Scottie Scheffler (-15)
• T9. Taylor Pendrith (-15)
• T12. Si Woo Kim (-13)
• T13. Andrew Novak (-12)
• T13. Tony Finau (-12)
• T13. Jason Day (-12)
• T13. Austin Eckroat (-12)
• T17. Tom Hoge (-11)
• T17. Seamus Power (-11)
• T17. Min Woo Lee (-11)
• T17. Collin Morikawa (-11)
• T17. Sam Stevens (-11)
• T22. Gary Woodland (-10)
• T22. Akshay Bhatia (-10)
• T22. Taylor Moore (-10)
• T22. Patrick Rodgers (-10)
• T22. Byeong Hun An (-10)
• T22. Eric Cole (-10)
• T22. Tommy Fleetwood (-10)
• T22. Viktor Hovland (-10)
• T22. Adam Scott (-10)
• T22. Sam Burns (-10)
• T22. Rasmus Højgaard (-10)
• T33. Sungjae Im (-9)
• T33. Keith Mitchell (-9)
• T33. Nick Taylor (-9)
• T33. Patrick Cantlay (-9)
• T33. J.J. Spaun (-9)
• T33. Jake Knapp (-9)
• T33. Lee Hodges (-9)