A four-time major champion, a former world number one, and the face of both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, Rory McIlroy is one of the most gifted golfers and recognisable superstars the sport has ever produced.
Hailing from the sleepy but aptly named village of Holywood in Northern Ireland’s County Down, the self-proclaimed ‘preacher of dreams’ enjoyed a meteoric rise to reach the pinnacle of sporting success. However, those in the know claim he was always destined for superstardom.
Turning professional at the tender age of 18, McIlroy had already won two of golf’s four major championships by the age of 23 (the 2011 US Open and the 2012 PGA Championship), a feat that inspired his idol, Tiger Woods, to bestow the nickname ‘The Intimidator’ upon this fresh-faced challenger.
By the time McIlroy landed his second major, he had already become the youngest player to pocket €10m in career earnings on the European Tour, and he set the same record stateside following his success in South Carolina in 2012.
Between 2009 and 2024, McIlroy has blazed a silver-lined trail through golf, landing 24 PGA Tour wins, 17 European Tour wins, four Majors, five victories in the Ryder Cup, and even an MBE for his services to sport.
McIlroy’s tale is one of steadfast dedication and realised potential. With a net worth estimated to be over £200m, he has already made good on his self-made childhood promise to conquer the game, though he hasn’t finished yet.
Starting early – hitting holes in one in a onesie
Born on 4th May 1989, McIlroy’s obsession with golf developed early, and he was a toddler when he first caught the bug. Rory was tentatively introduced to the sport by his father Gerry, an accomplished scratch golfer himself, though the wonder kid in the making didn’t need much encouragement.
While his peers were still trying to conquer broccoli, McIlroy was already a master at gobbling up greens and pinging 40-yard drives with specially crafted clubs by the age of two.
A member of Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland at seven, McIlroy was competing (and winning) the 1998 Doral Junior Under-10 World Championship just a couple of years later.
Speaking about the formation of his love for golf, McIlroy says: “I just really had a passion for the game. Swinging the golf club in the front room every day or chipping balls into the washing machine, I just loved the game. I was always fixated with it for a very long time from a very young age.”
Indeed, McIlroy’s unique practice routine of clipping golf balls into the washing machine earned him an appearance on Irish television as a nine-year-old. The freckled youngster delighted the audience with his party trick, though it was a foreshadowing moment and an indication of the future fame that would follow.
Importantly, McIlroy never felt forced to play, and his love for golf was self-propelled and not an extension of any vicarious pursuit by his father.
“I was never pushed into it in any way,” says McIlroy. “If anything, it was the other way around. I had to drag my dad out to the golf course, so I was never pushed into playing golf. It was always my ambition, my dream, I had to drag my dad out to the golf course to play so it was pure, pure joy and pure passion for me.”
For McIlroy, his infatuation with golf fuelled his passion for practice, and all of that practice eventually made perfect.
Bursting onto the scene – Rory chases his dreams
McIlroy maintains that setting “dreams and goals” are essential steps towards achievement, and the talented youngster chased this hard during his developmental years.
With a singular target in mind and a professional career in golf as the aim, McIlroy competed in and won worldwide junior tournaments, including the 2004 European Junior Ryder Cup. He also set a record as the youngest-ever winner of the West of Ireland Championship in 2005 before successfully defending that title a year later.
However, Rory made his first major splash at the North of Ireland Championship in 2005 at Royal Portrush when he shot an incredible 61 around the Dunluce Links as a 16-year-old, which had his more battle-hardened competitors aghast and shaking heads.
His coach, Michael Bannon, noted later that: “A member of the golf club phoned me and told me, and I thought it was a joke. Nobody can shoot 61 around Royal Portrush; it’s such a difficult course.”
McIlroy’s potential was undeniable, and his father Gerry, who Rory says was always “the biggest believer in me”, even placed a substantial wager on his son to win the Open Championship within a decade at odds of 500/1 – a bet that would eventually pay out.
His career was primed for take-off, and in 2007, he took his first real step towards stardom when the Ulsterman made his first-ever appearance at the 136th Open. Playing alongside iconic golfers such as Nick Faldo and Darren Clarke, McIlroy staggered onlookers on his way to picking up the Silver Medal.
That performance felt like a significant juncture in McIlroy’s journey, and with the fuse lit, an explosion towards golf’s stratosphere followed.
At the 139th Open at St Andrews in 2010, his progression continued, and the world began to sit up and take notice when breakout star McIlroy scored a stunning 63 around the Old Course to equal the lowest round in major championship history.
The prodigy was on the cusp of a breakthrough. Although he eventually finished third at the tournament in Scotland, McIlroy didn’t have to wait long for his first major, as he won the US Open in 2011, becoming only the third golfer ever to shoot all four rounds under 70 in the competition.
McIlroy had arrived, and the emerging megastar bagged a second major in 2012 and racked up four PGA tour wins overall, claiming the number one spot in golf’s rankings at the age of just 22.
But slow and steady since then – McIlroy deals with disappointment
In 2013, McIlroy would hit the first significant trough of his career when he missed the first cut at the Open Championship at Muirfield. His flop was a massive blow to his confidence as the breakout star experienced the unfamiliar taste of failure.
“It probably the lowest point in my professional career,” recalled McIlroy. “It was the first cut I’d missed at The Open, and I was completely lost with my game; I was lost out there. I didn’t know what to do. I had no answers. It wasn’t a good point in my career.”
McIlroy went through the whole of 2013 without recording a single victory in either the PGA or European Tour, losing his berth at the top of the rankings as a consequence. However, with his self-belief waning, Rory doubled his efforts and rekindled the flame.
“I had to learn to enjoy the challenge of trying to get better. It was my passion and my love of the game to go out there and try to get better each and every day leading up to The Open at Hoylake in 2014, and that’s really what I did.”
Reinvigorated, McIlroy performed more like himself in the early parts of the 2014 season and finally realised his ambition of winning golf’s original major at the 143rd Open at Royal Liverpool.
McIlroy also went on to win the final major tournament of the year when he pipped Phil Mickelson to first place in the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Since then, McIlroy’s career has followed a steadier trajectory, and while the adrenaline-driven highs have been fewer, his reliability as an established pro has kept tournament wins coming consistently.
McIlroy scored wins at two PGA Tour events in 2015 and 2016, and three years later, in 2019, he clinched the 15th PGA title of his glittering career with a triumph at the Players Championship.
Further success in PGA and European Tour events have followed alongside glory in the Ryder Cup, though even at the age of 34, McIlroy is far from a spent force.
Will 2024 be the year he makes big headlines again?
Like other elite athletes, McIlroy isn’t ready to rest on his laurels just yet. Despite having an incredible list of career achievements already, McIlroy insists that he has “a little bit left in the tank”.
In December 2023, just after he had wrapped up the 2023 Race to Dubai with a week left to run, McIlroy said: “I think I’ve still got a good eight to ten years left in me where I can play at the top, top level.”
It’s difficult to argue with McIlroy’s assertion, especially following his excellent showing across 2023. Over that 12-month stint, the Northern Irishman won twice in 10 events on the Race to Dubai rankings, missing the cut just once.
In the US, he clocked 13 top-10 finishes in 18 competitions and landed fourth on the FedEx Cup standings, while his runner-up spot at the US Open in June last year hinted that a fifth Major Championship could still be within reach in 2024.
However, McIlroy’s form since the turn of the year has been frustratingly patchy, and in five tournaments in 2024 to date, his highest finish of 19th was posted at The Players Championship on 17th March.
With next month’s Masters on the horizon, McIlroy is rapidly running out of time to find form. However, after his recent uninspiring showing at Sawgrass, he was keen to highlight the positives.
“I feel like I’ve made progress. I’m making enough birdies – I just need to cut down on the bad stuff. I’ve got a couple of weeks off before I play in San Antonio and then Augusta – and I am sure that I’ll be able to figure things out.”
The 34-year-old will be looking ahead to that Grand Slam at Augusta National later this year, and with a fifth major victory long overdue since his last success in 2014, McIlroy is keen to deliver.
“Look, I’m under no illusion that the clock is ticking, and it has been ten years since I’ve won one of them, and I’ve had chances, and those just haven’t gone my way. I just need to keep putting myself in those positions, and sooner or later it’s going to happen.
“I look at my record in the majors over the last couple of years and I’ve definitely started to perform much more consistently in them.”
While the clunkiness of his current form would suggest that a fifth major might be challenging to land, McIlroy, who still sits second in the world rankings behind rival Scottie Scheffler, wields enough class to complete his nap hand in early April.
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