Rory McIlroy would not have voted for Donald Trump

Rory McIlroy may have unwittingly plunged headlong into the politics of the United States when he played golf with Donald Trump a week and a half ago, but just because he joined POTUS for 18 holes does not mean the world No. 3 is a supporter of No. 45.

In fact, if he were an American citizen eligible to vote in the most recent, extremely divisive presidential election, McIlroy said he would have eschewed both Trump, the Republican, and Democrat Hillary Clinton, and cast his ballot for a third party-candidate.

“I don’t agree with everything that he says,” McIlroy told reporters on Tuesday from Mexico City ahead of his return to competition at this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship. “I would have voted for an Independent or someone else.”

McIlroy, who was sidelined some seven weeks ago with a fractured rib, stated in previous interviews that he was surprised by the bashing he took for teeing it up with the 45th president of the U.S.

He reiterated on Tuesday that he “was a little taken aback” by the vehemence of the criticism of those unhappy with his decision to take The Donald up on his offer of a round at his Trump International.

“I just wanted to have an experience that I might never get, play golf with a sitting president,” said McIlroy, who has actually had similar experiences at least three times, having hit the links with former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

McIlroy said he was well aware of how full of “divisive rhetoric” the Trump-Clinton race was and believes he would have heard it from the other side if he had blown Trump off.

“I was just doing what I felt was respectful,” McIlroy said. “[If] the president of the United States phones you up and wants to play golf with you, I wasn’t going to say no … I’m sorry if I pissed people off but I felt I was in a position where I couldn’t really do anything but say yes.

“Respect the office even if you don’t respect the guy that’s in it,” McIlroy concluded.