September 29th, 2014

Rory McIlroy helped Europe defeat the United States in the 2014 Ryder Cup after beating his good friend Rickie Fowler in their singles match on Sunday.  Rory took a quick lead with one eagle and four birdies in the first six holes as he closed out Fowler 5 & 4 after the 14th hole.

7 Facts On Rory McIlroy

1.  Ten years ago Rory’s father, Gerry McIlroy, lodged £200 at 500-1 that McIlroy, then just 15, would lift the Claret Jug in the next 10 years.  A year later two close friends of Gerry put in similar bets, one wagering £200 at 250-1 that McIlroy would win the Open Championship up to and including 2015 while another put up £200 at 150-1 that he would be the champion golfer before the age of 50. Gerry McIlroy won £100,000 on Sunday, July 20th after Rory won the Open Championship. The check collected by them totaled $341,730.

2.  Rory became only the seventh start-to-finish winner of a major in PGA Tour history when he won the Open Championship (British Open) this year, meaning he lead from the end of the first round on Thursday through the end of the final round on Sunday.

3.  Gerry McIlroy, Rory’s father, is a fine golfer himself and was Rory’s main teacher of golf as Rory grew up. Rory would receive a new golf club as a present, being shown the correct grip by his father, then would take the club into bed with him that night, with his hands holding the club properly.

4.  His home course is Holywood Golf Club, where he became the youngest member at age seven and met his current golf coach and mentor, Michael Bannon.

5.  After getting engaged to professional tennis star Caroline Wozniacki (former No. 1 female tennis player in the world) on New Year’s Eve of this year, he abruptly broke off the engagement in May with a telephone call after the couple had recently sent out their wedding invitations.  Wozniacki will be just fine on her own, as she has an estimated net worth of $20 million.

6.  Before McIlroy’s first major victory at the 2011 US Open at Congressional, he had an unfortunate collapse at the 2011 Masters. After becoming the youngest player in Masters history to lead the tournament after day one with an opening round 65, Rory blew a four stroke lead and the Green Jacket (awarded to the winner of the Masters) by shooting an 80 (8 over-par) in the final round.

7.  Rory has one superstition:  Which ever ball marker he begins a tournament with, he will finish a tournament with.

8. Rory won the 2014 POY award. He joined Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Nick Price as the only multiple winners of the Jack Nicklaus Award since it began in 1990.