Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy, MBEis a Northern Irish professional golfer who is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He was world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 95 weeks. He is a four-time major champion, winning the 2011 U.S Open with a tournament record lowest score under par, 2012 PGA Championship with a tournament record eight strokes victory margin, 2014 Open Championship, and 2014 PGA Championship. Along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods he is one...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionGolfer
Date of Birth4 May 1989
CityHolywood, Northern Ireland
CountryIreland
My mom and dad worked very hard to give me the best chance in - not just in golf but in life. You know, I was an only child, you know, my dad worked three jobs at one stage. My mom worked night shifts in a factory.
It's incredible, ridiculous really, isn't it? You realise you can make more money on the golf tour in one week than some people make in a lifetime.
You know I need that cockiness, the self-belief, arrogance, swagger, whatever you want to call it, I need that on the golf course to bring the best out of myself. So you know once I leave the golf course, you know that all gets left there.
I kept telling myself this word, process. Focus on my process, don't care about the result.
The next time I cry about golf it will only be with joy. It's not worth crying over golf for any other reason. After all, it's only a game.
As long as I keep enjoying my golf, then hopefully I'll be able to play well.
To be a top-class athlete, you have to train hard, you have to eat right, you have to get enough rest. I feel the way golf is going nowadays, you have to treat yourself as an athlete.
It's been 18 months since I won on The European Tour and to win the flagship event, I could not have asked for any more.
My dad's a scratch golfer and I've got the knack of seeing something and then replicating it. I saw my dad swing a club and I worked out how to do the same thing. My backswing and follow-through have been basically the same since I was two.
Everything is firing on all cylinders for me,
I wanted to make a point of basing myself at home, being close to my family. I'll never be able to repay Mum and Dad for what they did, but at least they know they'll never have to work another day. I'll do whatever it takes to look after them.
I'm happy with the success I've had, and I feel like there's been a lot that I've learned this year, and that's a great thing going into the future.
I was detained a couple of times but that was for not handing in homework because I was playing golf or not present because I was playing golf. There was a theme evolving.
In all honesty, I never actually did anything wrong (in my eyes, at least) at school or misbehaved in any big way. If it was anything, it was probably just a lot of clowning around.