Opinion | Success begets success for big-hearted Rory McIlroy
Irishman shows his true character after winning ‘one of the most gruelling wins’ in Irish Open by giving his US$1 million prize money away to his charity
It was coronation day in the republic, a place where royalty has often been a four-letter word. But no matter because at Ireland’s regal K Club, just 30 minutes west of downtown Dublin, there was no doubt who the crowd came to cheer home. Even the title of the event left little ambiguity: The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation.
Despite his plethora of accomplishments, McIlroy is all of 27 and not even near his golfing prime
Born and raised in County Down in Northern Ireland, golfer Rory McIlroy is arguably the most famous and accomplished Irish sportsman of this generation and has seemingly blurred the demarcation line between the north and south.
The former world number one and current number three, McIlroy, had the option of either representing Great Britain or Ireland when golf returns to the Olympics in Rio this summer. After great consternation he chose Ireland because he had represented the country when he was younger.
Raised Roman Catholic in a predominantly Protestant Belfast suburb, McIlroy has conspicuously avoided matters of politics or religion and perhaps it is a sign of a changing generation that he is just as popular in the north as he is in the south.
Of course, having won four majors by the age of 25 and spending 95 weeks as the world’s number one golfer will garner you an avalanche of support and exposure. And while he was largely accommodating and cooperative, his high profile dalliance with tennis star Caroline Woznicaki also attracted a great deal of exposure and not all of it good.
Far more damning has been his shaky form on course in the past year or so. He has been marginalised by the greatness of Jason Day, the Australian world number one who has won seven of his past 17 tournaments, including the PGA and the Players Championship.
But none of this mattered in the least to the legion of Irish fans showing up on the final day to crown their king of golf. McIlroy has admitted that after the majors, the Irish Open is the one event he covets the most and also admits to pressing in the past, resulting in a series of poor finishes.