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McIlroy and Rose were among the early starters
at Oakdale Country Club where play began two days after the
announcement of a partnership between the PGA Tour and Saudi
Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which controls LIV Golf, shook
the golf world.
"Rosie and I said, 'all right, no chatting until lunch' so that
we can actually concentrate on what we're doing out there," said
two-time defending champion McIlroy.
"We started to get in a conversation walking down the first and
we're like, 'No, let's stop this. Let's just focus on our golf
and we'll say what we want to say when we get inside.'"
Critics of LIV Golf consider the lucrative circuit, which
features no cuts and 54-hole events instead of the traditional
72, nothing more than an attempt to "sportswash" Saudi Arabia's
record of human rights violations.
McIlroy has been the PGA Tour's most outspoken golfer against
LIV Golf and the last two days, which included his
much-anticipated press conference on Wednesday, took a toll.
"I got a good night's sleep last night. So it was nice to sort
of recharge the batteries," said McIlroy, who added that the
news conference was the most uncomfortable he's felt in the last
12 months.
"I would say my energy levels on Tuesday and Wednesday were
diminishing quite quickly."
McIlroy shot a one-under-par 71 in his opening round, which was
played amid the smell of smoke lingering in the air due to the
many uncontrolled forest fires burning across Canada.
World number three McIlroy, bidding to become the first player
to record three consecutive wins at a tournament since Steve
Stricker in the John Deere Classic from 2009-11, capped his
round in style with an eight-foot birdie.
While it may not have been his best performance, McIlroy was
just happy to be back on the course.
"So it was nice to play a round of golf and focus on something
else for those five hours we were out there," said McIlroy.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
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