CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Rory McIlroy is part of about 50 players whose drivers were tested ahead of the PGA Championship, and the championship was described on Saturday as a normal procedure designed to protect players who don't know if their clubs exceed the limit.

Sirius XM PGA Tour radio station reported Friday afternoon that his driver was considered unqualified and the Masters champion could no longer use it on Quail How.

McIlroy hasn't spoken with the media in the last two days.

USGA chief champion Kerry Haigh confirmed that USGA was asked to test drivers at the PGA Championship. USGAs asking about the US and Mexican golf often test on the PGA Tour when asked.

The result is confidential.

The standard process is that one-third of the 156-person field performs driver testing, which is the case with Quail Hollow, Hayn said.

"It is not an unusual situation to find the person in charge of a driver who crawled within the consistency range, especially for clubs that have been hit thousands of times for a long time," Haigh said in a statement. "The results are confidential to protect players who do not know that the club has been out of consistency and is not consistent with the club, rather than hitting the club thousands of times."

Drivers who exceed USGA limits, especially when their faces are too thin and may cause a slight trampoline effect, need to be replaced. Hai said the players had changed "no problem".

"Open identification of a player whose club does not match may lead to unnecessary doubts from the player," Hager said. "Neither the USGA nor the US PGA have any concerns about the player's intentions."

Some companies tend to make their faces as thin as possible and farther away. When constantly hitting at 115 mph, the electric player has a speed of 120 mph, which can make the club unqualified, called "creep."

Research shows that a driver can start crawling after 5,000 swings, which is usually about four months, depending on how many races or practices are involved.

McIlroy attracted additional attention as he was the last of 74 players to advance accuracy, hitting 10 fairways in just 36 holes.

The results of the random driver test were reported for at least the second time. Xander Schauffele must replace his driver at the 2019 British Open, and he is angry with the R&A to avoid making the matter private.

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