• Memorial Tournament

McIlroy dodges inquiry about Wozniacki split

Rory McIlroy tried to keep the conversation centered on golf on Wednesday when questions arose about his high-profile break-up with Caroline Wozniacki.

McIlroy was asked about a report in the Times that suggested he called off his engagement with the tennis star in a three-minute phone conversation. McIlroy declined to answer that one at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where he will play in this week's Memorial Tournament.

A week following a sullen news conference at the BMW PGA Championship, where McIlroy had released a statement hours before with the news about his split with Wozniacki, McIlroy at least had some good golf to talk about. He won the European Tour's flagship event by overcoming a seven-shot deficit in the final round on Sunday.

It was the 25-year-old McIlroy's first victory of the year, first professional victory on European soil, and first in 18 months on either the European or PGA tours. It also moved him back inside the top 10 in the world at No.6.

"I think it was very important," he said. "I think I showed quite a lot of mental strength or focus or whatever you want to call it last week during the whole tournament."

McIlroy was asked why he felt compelled to announce that he and Wozniacki had broken up.

"Honestly, I don't know," he said. "It's one of those things that it was a very public relationship. And I thought it was best that, instead of letting it linger and rumours, just to have it right there as soon as possible."

The Times reported on Wednesday in its coverage of Wozniacki's first-round loss at the French Open that the engagement ended with "a three-minute conversation she thought was a joke."

McIlroy then said he was at the news conference at Muirfield to discuss golf, and he went from there.

For the first two rounds of the Memorial, McIlroy will be grouped with world No.1 Adam Scott and Jason Day.

This article originally appeared on ESPN.com

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