‘You bite your tongue, McIlroy’: Rory McIlroy’s YouTube critique gets a ‘response’

Rory McIlroy, with seemingly no thought of ill will, fired the first shot. 

Robby Berger, hilariously, then logged on. 

To start this day before the Players Championship report, McIlroy was asked Wednesday for his thoughts on the “YouTube generation.” The question was a nod to the rocket-ship-like rise in popularity in the video forum’s golf content, produced from both pros and non-pros, and it was timely; later Wednesday, TPC Sawgrass, the Players’ course, was to host the second Creators Classic, where 10 online “creators” were to play an event.

McIlroy, though, said he wasn’t much of a fan of the medium. At three points in his pre-tournament press conference, he was asked about either YouTube golf or the Creator Classic, and each answer struck a similar tone. 

Question one: “Rory, as somebody who’s involved in TGL himself, how much attention do you pay attention to the YouTube generation here like the Fat Perezes, Grant Horvat, stuff like that? Do you look at that at all?”

“Not really,” McIlroy said. “I’m not of that generation. I’d much rather watch pure competitive — I’d much rather watch this golf tournament on Saturday and Sunday than watch YouTube golf.”

Question two: “Is there any part of you that’s fascinated about how many eyeballs are on that right now, though?”

“I’m happy for the people that enjoy it,” McIlroy said, “but I enjoy something else.”

Question three: Rory, the Creators Classic goes down later today. How important do you think it is to have those kind of events? To have these influencers come out [and] play these iconic courses, especially for the younger fans that have so much content available at their hands nowadays?

“It’s important for them, that’s good,” McIlroy said. “Again, I don’t feel like I’m of the generation, but I can obviously see the intrigue and the — look, I think it’s cool for some people, but I don’t think it’s quite for my generation.”

So it’s safe to say then that McIlroy wouldn’t watch the Creator Classic. Nor the videos on such sites as Bob Does Sports. 

But its frontman watched McIlroy’s press conference. 

And in a video posted Wednesday to his Instagram page entitled “Bobby Fairways Responds to Rory McIlroy,” Berger said this:

“You don’t think that YouTube is competitive enough, Rory? Try being the first out of 10 in a 10-man scramble. Lot of responsibility to show the nine guys behind me whether that putt’s going to break right to left, or left to right. You bite your tongue, McIlroy. Try being eight Fireball shots deep trying to hit a 45-footer while the whole world of YouTube is relying on you, even though you know deep in your soul every single person watching that video knows damn well I ain’t making it. I had to watch my co-worker, Fat Perez, be eight Boston cream donuts deep trying to attack a flagstick from 175 yards out. The guy could barely make it to his backside, had to swing it like [Tony] Finau in order just to get through the ball. Sorry, Perez, but that was a tough day. 

“You bite your tongue, McIlroy. Now with that being said, I would sell my soul to have you on the channel.”

Would McIlroy respond?

Don’t rule it out. 

Fans of Bob Does Sports might remember that Berger said he bumped into McIlroy earlier this year. On another post on his Instagram page, he said:

“I’m such a f***ing idiot. Just ran into Rory McIlroy at the gas station down here in Jupiter. Pump four, Exxon Mobile. I saw him and immediately my brain just went to, I’m going to get him on Bob Does Sports. Never occurred to me that maybe this guy has no f***ing idea what Bob Does Sports is. Guy’s trying to win majors. Probably doesn’t have time to watch three a**clowns see how many donuts they can eat in nine holes. I just rolled down the window and said, hey, Rory, would love to have you on the show sometime. And he was a deer in headlights. I said, you ever hear of Bob Does Sports? He said, no. 

“I didn’t really know where to go from there. It’s like an accountant pulling up next to him and just saying, hey, Rory, would love to have you come by the office some time. Then all I said, I just said, well, I’m going to head over to Publix, get a Pub Sub, but thanks for all you do for YouTube, Rory. Meant to say golf, said YouTube. Bet your bottom dollar you’ll never see Rory McIlroy on the show. Who the f*** do I think I am? So now I’m just drowning myself in chicken tortilla soup because that was a miserable interaction. And it’s all self-inflicted. That guy’s got to be thinking, what a f***ing ****-off. And he’d be right.”

A short while later, McIlroy left this comment on the post:

“Can confirm that it was not your best. The Porsche you were driving was nice. Looks like YouTube pays well….”