Rory McIlroy cracks joke about PGA Championship prep after "unfair advantage" Masters claims

Rory McIlroy decided to take a cheeky dig over claims he had an unfair advantage at the 2026 Masters when he was asked about his preparations for this week's PGA Championship.

McIlroy heads to Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania for the second men's major of the year.

The Northern Irishman, who recently turned 37 years old, is now a six-time major winner having successfully defended his Masters title in April. 

The world number two became just the fourth player to win successive green jackets when he held off Scottie Scheffler at Augusta National. 

A week after McIlroy's stunning win, he faced criticism from prominent American TV personality and ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, who claimed the golfer had an "unfair advantage". 

McIlroy elected to skip signature events on the PGA Tour's schedule in the build-up to the first major of the year, instead opting to play multiple practice rounds at Augusta. 

In his winning news conference, McIlroy explained the regularity of which he played Augusta over a three-week period was crucial in his victory. 

"I honestly just don't like the three tournaments leading up to this event," he previously explained. "I'd rather come up here. 

"I did a couple of days where I dropped Poppy to school, flew up here, played, landed back home and had dinner with her, or had dinner with [my wife] Erica.

"I did a couple of day trips like that where I felt it was a better use of my time than going to Houston or San Antonio."

Smith erroneously claimed that "nobody else" got to do what McIlroy did, adding: "I don't know how anybody else feels about it."

PGA Tour golfers Michael Kim and Kevin Kisner were among those to defend McIlroy, with the later explaining that it was "the dumbest argument ever". 

Asked about his preparations for the PGA Championship after posting a T19 finish at the Truist Championship, McIlroy joked that he lived at Aronimink Golf Club for a week. 

"Just played it every day," he added with a smile. 

McIlroy said he visited Aronimink for a one-day reconnaissance trip. 

"We played the BMW [Championship] there in 2018, but the course played a lot differently," he said. 

"It was wet in 2018 and the greens didn't play as fast or as severe as what I felt like they played last week when I played. 

"So it's not a long golf course, but the big defense is the greens and they can tuck the pins away if they want to. 

"But yeah it was nice to get an early look at it. 

"It just means that the week of the tournament you're not under pressure to play a lot of holes and historically the practice rounds at the PGA can be excruciatingly long, so it's probably going to just be nine holes Tuesday, nine holes Wednesday."

McIlroy shared 19th place at the Truist Championship. 

He started slowly in round one, carding 17 consecutive pars in a row before making a birdie on the final hole. 

A 67 in the second round lifted McIlroy up the leaderboard, but he followed that effort with an error-strewn 75. 

McIlroy bounced back with another 67, but was spotted limping during the final round at Quail Hollow Club. 

He revealed that he had a blister under his big toe but wasn't worried about it affecting him this week. 

"I'll be okay," he said. 

The PGA Championship gets underway on Thursday. 

Keep checking GolfMagic for regular updates.