Rory McIlroy stares down reporter: "Why wouldn't I speak my mind?"

Rory McIlroy defended his opinion the PGA Tour needed to be 'more cut-throat' after the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

McIlroy told reporters earlier in the week he was 'indifferent' of having cuts at the lucrative signature events but made one bold suggestion. 

And that he is in favour of seeing 'less Tour cards' available. In other words, the best against the very best. 

WATCH: RORY MCILROY SMASHES TEE BOX MARKER TO PIECES AT ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL!

His comments received a mixed reaction, to say the least. 

PGA Tour hopeful Mark Baldwin posted on X: "Lazy idea - protects the stars of yesterday and will inevitably lead to reducing playing opportunities down the ladder.

"They just got billions. Let's see some investment in developing new stars and telling more stories in innovative ways — more ways to make a living, not less."

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McIlroy was pressed about his comments after he moved into contention on day three at Bay Hill. 

The Northern Irishman - who hit an otherworldly drive on the 10th hole - was asked by a reporter: "Why do you always speak your mind?"

Of which McIlroy had a curt response: "Why wouldn't I speak my mind, I guess.

"You asked me my opinion and I give it to you. I'm not going to stand up here and lie to you."

Check out our review of Rory McIlroy's TaylorMade Qi10 Driver

McIlroy was asked what he envisioned if he had things 'his way'. 

He said: "I guess I haven't thought about it that hard. I guess my thing is, I'm all for more cut throat and more competitive and trying to give pathways to the younger generation."

McIlroy said he already feels there are 'a lot of categories on Tour that people are still benefitting from like they did five or ten years ago'. 

He continued: "I feel like the most competitive professional golf tour in the world, you should have to come out and prove yourself year after year after year."

Over the last few months McIlroy has also spoken of his desire to see a world tour created. 

That would help bring the world of men's professional golf together once again, he has claimed. 

A reporter asked McIlroy: "When you think of the world tour, are you thinking of creating new events, like to be complementary to a tour, or are you talking about borrowing the best events from?"

McIlroy said: "I would say take the best events from all over the world and try to create something through that, because those events still have history and legacy and tradition and all the things that are still very important in golf.

"I think there's been some experiments with creating new tournaments out of nothing, and I don't know if they have really captured the imagination of the general public.

"That's what you want, you want to -- like, why is the Masters the Masters, why is this tournament this tournament, why are the more historical tournaments the ones that are revered so much in our game, it's because they have history, and people remember Ben Hogan winning or Jack Nicklaus or these guys.

"It's all about trying to bridge the, I guess, trying to bridge the present back to the past and the people that came before us. I think that's important."

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