There’s two things I love about golf. One is the sheer beauty and multigenerational memories of the greats playing the Masters course in Atlanta, Georgia. The other is the boundless courage, natural decency and outrageous genius of Rory McIlroy.
As a teenager I once struggled on the same course as Rory on the side of the Holywood hills overlooking the Belfast Lough, but in contrast to his, his dad’s and his grandad Jimmy’s, my key talent consisted of losing balls and four or five putting the greens.
It’s twenty years since he won the West of Ireland Open and fourteen since he first had the Masters almost in his hands. It was a long time coming, but he’s now the first Irishman and only the sixth human being to win all four major golf championships.
As Shane Lowry noted beforehand “everything Rory does is scrutinised” even down to his childhood friend and caddie Harry Diamond. Yesterday he answered every critic and know-it-all with this most memorable walk from agony to sweet victory.
These pre-tournament comments from the man himself shed some light on how the journey has been for him…
“At a certain point in life, someone doesn’t want to fall in love because they don’t want to get their heart broken,” the world number two said in an illuminating pre-tournament news conference on Tuesday.
“Instinctually as human beings we hold back sometimes because of the fear of getting hurt, whether that’s a conscious decision or subconscious decision.
“I think once you go through that, once you go through those heartbreaks – as I call them – you get to a place where you remember how it feels.
“You wake up the next day and you’re like, ‘life goes on, it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be’.”
Many watching, whether from Holywood, or my cousin’s porch in a tiny parish in rural Ohio felt some of that too. Deliverance! Liberation, even says The Irish Times. Twice as many have walked on The Moon (than have won a Grand Slam), The BelTel.
What about the golf, you say? Well, with my appalling level of experience and/or expertise, I won’t waste your time gassing on about that. But for those who missed it, here’s every single shot of his final round. Thanks Rory, now play on Mr McIllroy…
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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