Rory McIlroy just admitted he doesn’t really understand American football, and that’s awkward since the PGA Tour is trying to copy the NFL’s model.

The four-time major winner arrived at Pebble Beach on Tuesday for his first U.S. press conference of 2026. People expected him to talk about the future of golf and the big changes planned for the Tour under former NFL executive Brian Rolapp.

Instead of talking about golf’s future or big tour changes, Rory McIlroy surprised everyone by admitting something personal.

Even though he’s often asked about American football, he isn’t a football fan and has tried hard but failed to become one. He said he has watched and tried to get into it, but it just doesn’t click for him. 

"I've tried really hard with football." "Like I've tried really hard," McIlroy said during his pre-tournament media session.

The Northern Irishman didn't sugarcoat it. He can sit through five days of cricket without blinking. But football? It never clicked.

"I could watch a game of cricket for five days and be mesmerized," he said. "I think I just didn't grow up with it, so that's why I maybe don't take to it quite as naturally."

The timing is ironic. McIlroy has been a key voice in the PGA Tour’s changes, including a possible shift to start the season after the Super Bowl and follow the NFL’s marketing model. The idea is simple,  football owns winter, golf takes spring and summer, with Pebble Beach opening the season.

For McIlroy, it wouldn’t matter much since he usually starts in the Middle East on the DP World Tour. Still, he admires the NFL’s strategy, even if he doesn’t enjoy watching it.

McIlroy shuts down 'fifth major' talk

The Masters champion rejected the idea of making the Players Championship golf’s fifth major. Tour executives suggested it to please investors, but McIlroy isn’t convinced.

"Look, I'd love to have seven majors instead of five, that sounds great," he said with a laugh. "But I'm a traditionalist, I'm a historian of the game. We have four major championships."

He used the women’s game as an example, showing that adding more majors doesn’t always work."If you want to see what five major championships looks like, look at the women's game," McIlroy said. "I don't know how well that's went for them."

The Players doesn’t need a new image, says the defending Pebble Beach champion. It already has a clear identity, unlike the PGA Championship.

McIlroy said golf in 2026 is torn between tradition and change, but he won’t support making the Players a major.

The debate will continue, but now it’s clear: McIlroy is against both the football-style schedule and the fifth major idea.

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu