Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy, born May 4, 1989 in Holywood, Northern Ireland, is a Northern Irish professional golfer.

At the age of 15, McIlroy was a member of the winning European team at the 2004 Junior Ryder Cup, and a year later became the youngest winner of both the West of Ireland Championship and the Irish Close Championship. He defended both titles the following year and also won the European Amateur Championship.

World's Best Amateur in 2007

In the same year, McIlroy represented Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy and was victorious in the Amateur World Team Championship. Already in February 2007 he was for a week at the top of the world ranking of amateurs.

At the 2007 Open Championship in Carnoustie, he won the Silver Medal as the best amateur. That year McIlroy was on the Great Britain & Ireland team in the Walker Cup, which narrowly lost to the USA.

On the European Tour at 16

Just days after his 16th birthday, McIlroy made his first appearance in a European Tour tournament, the 2005 British Masters. At 17, he managed his first finish in the prize money, at the 2007 Dubai Desert Classic, which, however, he was not allowed to accept as an amateur.

He became a professional golfer in September 2007 and earned enough prize money via invitations to European Tour tournaments to secure full playing rights for the following season.

From 95th to 36th place in one year

At the end of that season, he ranked 95th in the European Tour Order of Merit, and a year later McIlroy was already ranked 36th.

In February 2009, he finally managed to win his first tournament, at the highly competitive Dubai Desert Classic. This also saw him climb into the top 20 of the world golf rankings.

Among the top 10 at the age of 20

After a third-place finish at the PGA Championship and a second-place finish at the Dubai World Championship, McIlroy finished second in the Race to Dubai at the end of the season and broke into the top 10 of the world rankings.

McIlroy has also been playing on the PGA Tour in the USA since 2010. He claimed his first victory at the beginning of May at the Quail Hollow Championship.

First Major Victory in 2011

After losing a four-stroke lead after the third day at The Masters in April 2011 and finishing in a tie for 15th place, McIlroy claimed his first Major Championship victory in June.

He won the US Open with the best score ever played in this tournament up to that point of 16 strokes under par, beating Tiger Woods' old best (-12) from 2000. After this tournament, he was ranked 4th in the world. In November 2011, McIlroy moved up to No. 2.

In January 2012, McIlroy was presented with the Laureus Sport Award in the World Breakthrough of the Year category.

First in the world rankings in March 2012

By winning the Honda Classic, McIlroy was able to take over first place in the world rankings for the first time in March 2012. At 22, this makes him the second-youngest world number one to date.

In August 2012, he secured his second major victory at the PGA Championship with a record lead of eight strokes (previously Jack Nicklaus with seven).

In July 2014, he won the Open Championship, his third major. After winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August, he moved back up to number one in the world rankings and followed this up in the same month by winning the PGA Championship, his fourth major title. The Northern Irishman also won the European Tour's Race to Dubai at the end of the 2014 season.

In 2015, McIlroy won his second tournament, the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour. With a score of 22 under par, he set the tournament record.

Unexpectedly missed the cut

At the Honda Classic, his first start on the PGA Tour this year, he missed the cut on the PGA Tour for the first time since the 2013 Open Championship, i.e. after 22 consecutive appearances.

At the US Masters, he finished in 4th place, his best performance so far at this tournament. On May 3, he prevailed in the final of the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship with 4 & 2 against the US American Gary Woodland.

Second success at World Golf Championship

It was his second success at a World Golf Championship tournament to date. At the end of September 2016, Rory won the Tour Championship and also the FedEx Cup.

On March 17, 2019, he won the Players Championship for the first time, it was his 15th tournament victory on the PGA Tour. In June 2019, McIlroy won the Canadian Open and is thus part of the Triple Crown.

Wins at three oldest tournaments

He was able to win the three oldest tournaments on the PGA Tour in his career, the Open Championship, the U.S. Open and the Canadian Open. At the end of that season, he won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup for the second time.

In the spring of 2021, McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship for the third time.

Engaged and married

McIlroy had been in a relationship with Danish tennis player and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki for almost three years and had been engaged since December 31, 2013. On May 21, 2014, it became known that the golfer broke off the engagement and the couple separated.

Since December 2015, McIlroy was engaged to Erica Stoll, an employee of PGA America. The two were married in April 2017.

[Sources: http://www.rorymcilroy.com & Wikipedia]

Previous text in the series: Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els