Scottie Scheffler explains why he didn’t reach out to ‘good buddy’ Rory McIlroy after his tough US Open loss

Rory McIlroy recently revealed that sporting greats Rafael Nadal and Michael Jordan were among the first to reach out to him following his heartbreaking US Open loss at Pinehurst. Tiger Woods soon chimed in by stating that he too left a heartfelt text for his friend. However, Scottie Scheffler didn’t bother to do the same.

Scheffler admitted that he didn’t reach out to McIlroy after his Major loss last month. The World No. 1 golfer claimed that he wanted to respect the ace golfer’s personal space during the tough time. The Masters champion dubbed giving space to Northern Irishman the “best thing to do” as the latter announced taking a break from the sport.

Speaking about Rory McIlroy and his Major loss ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Troon, Scottie Scheffler said (at 16:09):

“As far as reaching out to Rory, I didn't. He took the next week off at The Travelers and it seemed to me like he wanted his space and so just felt like giving us his space was the best thing to do.”

Scheffler also responded to a media query on who reached out to him during his ‘toughest loss.’ Replying to this, the PGA Tour star recalled his 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs loss to Rory McIlroy at East Lake. Interestingly, the 28-year-old noted that Justin Thomas offered him a hug soon after the loss, which helped him recover.

Scottie Scheffler added:

“As far as my toughest losses have been, it was a great one for Rory, East Lake, a few years ago. I'd say was probably one of my toughest losses. I remember, immediately after, Justin was standing there and gave me a hug and he didn't really have a ton to say but he just gave me a hug just because we're good buddies…

"Justin's definitely one of those guys. It was nice to just to get a hug and I think that's what's cool about competing out here. You make some great friends for life especially being on team events with those guys and stuff like that. Really have great friends for a long time we love competing with each other and sharing in successes and beating up on each other a little bit as well.”

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Rory McIlroy missed Tiger Woods’ text after his US Open loss

Tiger Woods on Tuesday revealed that he reached out to Rory McIlroy after his loss at Pinehurst. However, he didn’t get a response. Later, the Northern Irishman cleared the air about allegedly ‘ghosting’ Woods and stated that he unintentionally missed the text.

The 35-year-old golfer claimed that he was receiving a barrage of texts from journalists after narrowly missing out on victory. The golfer’s early escape after the event, without staying back for the presentation or press conference, added to this. The golfer noted that he ditched his old phone number and opted for a new one.

Rory McIlroy admitted that he missed Woods’ text because he changed his phone number which led to him unintentionally ‘blanking’ his friend. It is pertinent to note that Woods and McIlroy had a good relationship in the past, with the two co-investing in multiple businesses.

However, their rapport was put under scrutiny earlier this year amid the ongoing PGA Tour-PIF discussions. Despite the alleged fallout, Woods seems supportive of McIlroy as he detailed calling the latter a ‘good friend’ in his text.