Rory McIlroy storms out of PGA Championship with sluggish final round and snubs media again!

Rory McIlroy once again snubbed media interview requests for a fourth straight day at the PGA Championship on Sunday. 

It marks the first time in McIlroy's career where he has refused media interview requests after all four tournament days at a major. 

McIlroy, 36, carded sluggish weekend rounds of 1-over 72 to end golf's second major of the season just inside the top 50 on 3-over par. 

Five weeks ago, McIlroy was winning The Masters to become just the sixth male in the modern era to complete the career grand slam. 

But for one reason or another the five-time major champion has looked a shadow of his Masters best at the PGA Championship this week.

A surprise to many given Quail Hollow Club is a venue where McIlroy has won a record four times on the PGA Tour at the Truist Championship. 

McIlroy just didn't have it from tee to green ever since opening with a 3-over 74 on Thursday. 

He battled back to nose into the red on 1-under for the tournament during Friday's second round, but he once again stumbled coming home for a 69 to make the cut on the number at 1-over par.

But instead of making charge, McIlroy strung together two lacklustre rounds of 72 to close out the tournament on 3-over par. 

Despite being considered one of the best drivers of the golf ball, McIlroy ranked an unthinkable 37th in strokes-gained off the tee (0.861). 

He also ranked a lowly 65th for strokes-gained approach to the green (-2464). 

An element of controversy has surrounded McIlroy's TaylorMade Qi10 Driver this week.

That was after his initial 'gamer' driver was reportedly deemed 'non-conforming' during a test by the USGA on Tuesday afternoon. 

Players are chosen at random at PGA Tour and USGA events throughout the season. 

It is understood McIlroy's driver failed a CT (characteristic time) test.

CT tests determine if a driver's face is too springy. 

As a result of that test, McIlroy had to put a replacement Qi10 Driver in play this week. 

It seemingly showed too, as McIlroy found just 26 of 56 fairways (46%) all week at the PGA Championship. 

For someone typically very accurate and long off the tee, McIlroy ranked T70 in driving accuracy at Quail Hollow Club. 

Distance wasn't so much of an issue, however, ranking fourth with an average of 324 yards. 

McIlroy spoke to the media on Tuesday morning but ever since an update emerged about his 'non-conforming' driver, he has declined all interviews with the press. 

There had been some anticipation in the media that McIlroy might want to address and clear up his driver situation earlier this week, but instead he chose to walk immediately to the car park and head through the exit. 

McIlroy was seen packing up his clubs in the boot of his rental car and speaking to LIV Golf superstar Jon Rahm just before the Spaniard headed out onto the course for his final round. 

"Rory is not used to be jumping in the car and going home at this time on a Sunday," said Sky Sports Golf commentator Ewen Murray. 

It remains to be heard why exactly McIlroy has refused to speak with the media this week. 

A large number of analysts and golf fans certainly think his driver issue is a big reason why he has declined any comment. 

Some fans also want answers as to whether McIlroy had been using this 'non-conforming' gamer driver during his Masters victory. 

McIlroy's team has declined any comment. 

Kerry Haigh, the PGA Championship's chief championships officer, has at least shed some light on the subject and the USGA's latest test.

Haigh confirmed the USGA has no concerns about 'player intent' to be using a 'non-conforming' driver in tournament conditions. 

"We can confirm that the USGA was invited to do club testing at the PGA Championship, at the PGA of America’s request," Haigh said.

"That testing program is consistent with the same level of support that the USGA provides to the PGA Tour and other championships, as part of their regular programs for driver testing.

"The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the program. That was the case at Quail Hollow this week."

Haigh added: "Finding driver heads that have crept over the line of conformance is not an unusual occurrence, especially for clubs that are hit thousands of times over a long period of time.

"The results are kept confidential to protect players, who are unaware the club has fallen out of conformance and not responsible for it falling out of conformance other than hitting the club thousands of times.

"Players are simply asked to change heads if necessary, and all do without issue.

"To publicly identify players whose club did not conform can lead to that player being questioned unnecessarily.

"Neither the USGA nor the PGA of America have any concerns about player intent."

It remains to be seen when McIlroy will next tee it up on the PGA Tour. 

His next event is likely to be the U.S. Open. 

The next major on the schedule takes place at Oakmont from 12-15 June.