McIlroy has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. He had a successful amateur career, topping the
World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007. Later that year he turned professional and soon established himself on the
European Tour. He had his first win on the European Tour in 2009, and on the
PGA Tour in 2010. He represented Europe in the 2010
Ryder Cup. In 2011 at the age of 22, he became the youngest player ever to reach €10 million in career earnings on the European Tour. In 2012 he became the youngest player to reach $10 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour.
[edit]Early life, family, and early golf development
McIlroy was born in
Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, the only child of Gerry and Rosie (née McDonald) McIlroy; he attended St. Patrick's Primary School
[8] and then
Sullivan Upper School.
[9]
He was introduced to golf at an exceptionally young age by his father, who coached him.
[3] Gerry McIlroy is a fine golfer himself, who once played at a scratch handicap level.
[10] Young Rory gave early evidence of his golf potential by hitting a 40-yard drive at the age of two.
[11] Rory asked his father virtually every day to take him to the golf course. Family lore relates that he received a new golf club as a present, being shown the correct grip by his father, then taking the club to bed with him that night, with his hands holding the club properly. A video on golf technique produced by champion
Nick Faldo was his early favourite.
[12]
Gerry McIlroy held down several jobs to earn additional income for his son's golf development. Rory's mother worked extra shifts at the local
3M plant.
[13] Rory's first significant international victory came in the World Championship for the 9–10 age group bracket at the
Doral Golf Resort & Spa in
Miami, Florida.
[3][14] He learned his early golf at the Holywood Golf Club, which he still retains as his home course.
[15] He became the youngest club member at age seven.
[16] He started his early training with
Michael Bannon, previously the Golf Professional of Holywood Golf Club, who is also his current coach and dedicated
mentor.
[13]
[edit]Amateur career
McIlroy at age 15 was a member of Europe's winning 2004
Junior Ryder Cup team; the event was held in
Ohio.
[17] In 2005 he became the youngest-ever winner of both the West of Ireland Championship and the Irish Close Championship.
[18] He retained the West of Ireland Championship in 2006 and followed that up with back-to-back wins at the Irish Close Championship.
[19] In August 2006, he won the
European Amateur at Biella Golf Club, near
Milan, Italy with the score of 274.
[20]
In late 2004, at age 15, he signed a letter of intent to play collegiate golf at
East Tennessee State University, but after his wins in 2005, he decided to forgo the golf scholarship and continue to play amateur golf in Europe.
[21] McIlroy shot an opening round of 3-under-par 68 at the
2007 Open Championship at
Carnoustie, his first major championship entry. He shot +5 overall and was the highest finishing amateur, winning the silver medal.
[22]
In July 2005, at age 16, McIlroy shot a new competitive course record score of 61 on the Dunluce links of
Royal Portrush Golf Club.
[23]In October 2006, McIlroy represented Ireland in the
Eisenhower Trophy, which is the Amateur World Team Championship. On 6 February 2007, he became the second man to top the
World Amateur Golf Ranking, though he lost the top spot after just one week.
[24]
McIlroy was part of the Great Britain & Ireland team at the
2007 Walker Cup, held at the
Royal County Down Golf Club.
[25] On the first day of the event he was paired with Jonathan Caldwell for morning foursomes, and the match was halved. In the afternoon he faced
Billy Horschel in singles, but Horschel won 1 up. On the second day McIlroy and Caldwell lost in morning foursomes by the score of 2 & 1. In the afternoon he faced Horschel in singles again, and this time he won by the score of 1 up. McIlroy's overall record was (1–2–1) in Win-Loss-Tie format. The United States came out victorious by a score of 12½ to 11½.
[26] He made his first appearance in a
European Tour event a few days after turning 16, when he took part in the 2005
British Masters. He made the cut on the European Tour for the first time as a 17-year-old at the 2007
Dubai Desert Classic, where he had to forego prize money of over €7,600 due to his amateur status.
[27]
[edit]Professional career
McIlroy finished the Europen Tour season in November 2008 with six top-10 placements and ranked 79th in the World Golf Ranking.
[37]
In April 2009, McIlroy appeared at The Masters in his first major tournament as a professional and his first Masters Tournament. He finished the tournament tied for 20th place, two shots under par for the tournament. Of the players to make the cut, McIlroy achieved the third highest average driving distance, beaten only by
Dustin Johnson and
Andrés Romero.
[44] McIlroy played in two more events on the PGA Tour after the Masters including his first appearance at
The Players Championship where he was cut.
[43]
McIlroy finished the 2009 season ranked second on the
Race to Dubai, behind
Lee Westwood, and in November he entered the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time.
[46] McIlroy finished 2009 ranked 9th in the world.
[47] In November 2009, McIlroy announced that he would join the American-based PGA Tour for the 2010 season.
[48]
In the 2010
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, McIlroy beat
Kevin Na 1-up in the first round and then lost on a playoff hole to
Oliver Wilson. After the Accenture Match Play Championship, McIlroy took time off from golf due to a sore back.
[51] After a two-week break McIlroy returned in the 2010 Honda Classic and finished in a tie for 40th.
[43]
On 2 May, McIlroy recorded his first PGA Tour win after shooting 62 in the final round of the
Quail Hollow Championship. The round set a new course record, and concluded with six consecutive scores of three.
[52] He became the first player since
Tiger Woods to win a PGA Tour event prior to his 21st birthday.
[53] The win earned him a two-year Tour exemption.
[54]On 2 June, McIlroy played at the Memorial Skins Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in
Dublin, Ohio.
[55] McIlroy finished T10 at the Memorial Tournament.
[56]
On 15 July 2010, McIlroy confirmed his status as a favourite for the Open title on the
Old Course at St Andrews by shooting a 9-under-par 63 on the opening day, the lowest-ever first round score in the 150-year history of the Open Championship, and tying the course record.
[57] He missed a putt on the 17th, "The Road Hole", that would have given him the outright record.
[58] His tied third finish in the 2010 Open Championship sent him to a career high world ranking of seventh.
[59]
McIlroy missed out on a chance to win the
2010 PGA Championship when he three-putted the 15th green to fall out of a tie for the lead.
[31] His final-hole birdie putt narrowly missed the hole to leave him a shot out of the playoff between
Bubba Watson and eventual winner
Martin Kaymer. McIlroy finished tied for third.
[31] On 4 October 2010, McIlroy won a crucial half-point to help Europe regain the
Ryder Cup.
[32] Following the Ryder Cup, he announced in November that he would return to play full-time on the European Tour, although he also stated that he would continue to play 11 or 12 tournaments in the U.S. per year. He attributed the decision to having closer friends on the European Tour, his part in the Ryder Cup victory, and wanting to be nearer his girlfriend and family.
[60]
McIlroy later stated that he regretted his 2010 decision to give up his PGA Tour card, and his skipping the 2010 Players Championship at Sawgrass. McIlroy's manager
Chubby Chandler's aversion to the PGA Tour was cited by McIlroy as one of the main reasons for their later professional split.
[61]
[edit]Masters
On 7 April, McIlroy shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 in the first round of the
Masters Tournament in
Augusta, Georgia to take the lead after the first day of the four-day competition.
[62] He is the youngest player to date to lead the Masters at the close of the first day.
[63] On Friday, he shot 69 to lead by two strokes over
Jason Day with a 10-under-par score. On Saturday, he shot 70 to finish at 12-under-par, four strokes ahead of four other challengers. However, on the fourth and final day, he shot the worst round in history by any professional golfer leading after the third round of the Masters.
[64] McIlroy scored one-over-par 37 on the first nine, and still had the lead, but shot a round of 80, finishing T15 at 4-under for the tournament.
[43]
[edit]2011 U.S. Open win
McIlroy won the
U.S. Open held at
Congressional in
Bethesda, Maryland on 19 June winning by eight shots over
Jason Day. McIlroy set several records in his victory, most notably, his 72-hole aggregate score of 268 (16-under) was a new U.S. Open record. The 268 aggregate beat the previous record of 272 held by
Jack Nicklaus (
Baltusrol, 1980),
Lee Janzen (Baltusrol, 1993), Tiger Woods (
Pebble Beach, 2000), and
Jim Furyk (
Olympia Fields, 2003).
[65] The 16-under in relation to par beat Tiger Woods' 12 under at
Pebble Beach Golf Links in 2000.
[5][66][67] He became the youngest winner since
Bobby Jones in
1923. The victory lifted McIlroy's position in the Official World Golf Ranking to a then career high of number four.
[68]
In preparation for the US Open, McIlroy practised at
Pine Valley Golf Club in
New Jersey, rather than at Congressional, but did play two practice rounds at Congressional about a week before the start of the Open, after returning from a two-day trip to
Haiti as an ambassador for
UNICEF.
[69][70]
On 17 June during the second round, McIlroy became the first player in the history of the tournament to amass a score of 13-under-par at any point in the tournament. He achieved the feat by making a birdie at the 17th hole in the second round. Despite a double bogey on the final hole, his two-day total of 131 (65–66, 11-under par) set a record as the lowest 36-hole total in U.S. Open history.
[71] The score was one better than
Ricky Barnes' 132 in 2009. He was also the fastest golfer to reach double digits under par in the U.S. Open, reaching 10 under par in 26 holes.
[72]
On 18 June, during the U.S. Open's third round, he became the first player to reach 14-under par at the tournament by making a birdie at the 15th hole, on his way to a 54-hole U.S. Open record of 199.
[73] In doing so, he also built an eight-shot lead going into the final round. A final round of 69 allowed him to claim his first major championship setting the 72-hole record.
[74]
The win meant that, in a poll conducted a few days later, 39 per cent of British 18-to-24-year-olds said they were inspired to try golf for the first time because of him. Partly due to this, he was named by Golf Club Management magazine as the second most powerful person in British golf
[75].
[edit]Rest of 2011
The tournament was in the spotlight due to its high profile field including former and current World Number 1
Tiger Woods and
Luke Donald respectively, and World Number 2
Lee Westwood. McIlroy also played alongside Woods and Donald in the marquee group during the first two days. McIlroy shot rounds of 67-72-68 to start round 4 in joint 3rd place behind joint leaders
Robert Rock and
Tiger Woods. He shot a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday to finish lone second, one shot behind winner
Robert Rock. McIlroy continued the Dubai swing at the
Omega Dubai Desert Classic where he finished tied 5th on 14-under-par, four shots behind winner
Rafael Cabrera-Bello. He continued to play well at the
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in
Arizona where he won matches against
George Coetzee,
Anders Hanson,
Miguel Ángel Jiménez,
Bae Sang-moon and
Lee Westwood before losing to
Hunter Mahanin the final. After 10 holes in the final match, McIlroy was 4 down to Mahan, but cut the deficit to 2 down through 16 holes. The 17th hole was halved with pars, securing the win for Mahan. There was anticipation surrounding the semi-final match between McIlroy and Westwood, as the winner would become the number one golfer in the world if they also won the final. McIlroy's runner-up finish moved him up to number two in the world while also putting him at the top of the
Race to Dubai leaderboard.
Two weeks later, he lost the number one spot to
Luke Donald but regained the top spot on 15 April. After being number one for two weeks, he lost the spot to Donald again on 29 April.
The following week, McIlroy continued good form and won the
Honda Classic in
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and with it claimed the Number 1 spot in the world rankings.
[81] He started the fourth round in first place at 11-under-par after rounds of 66-67-66, ahead of a chasing pack including
Tiger Woods,
Lee Westwoodand
Keegan Bradley. McIlroy shot a final round of 69 to claim his third
PGA Tour title and finished two shots ahead of
Tiger Woods and
Tom Gillis. McIlroy became the second youngest World Number 1 and moved up to fourth place in the
FedEx Cup standings.
[82] He played the following week at the
WGC-Cadillac Championship in
Miami, Florida. His recent good form began to dwindle slightly on Thursday, when he shot a 1-over par 73. However, he shot 69 and 65 the next two days to begin the fourth round in tied 8th place. Going into the back 9 on Sunday, he had a chance of winning his second title of 2012 in as many weeks due to the leaders faltering. However two late bogeys halted his chance and he settled for 3rd place, two shots behind winner
Justin Rose. McIlroy lost his number one ranking on 18 March to
Luke Donald after Donald won the
Transitions Championship. McIlroy was one stroke off of the lead going into the weekend at
The Masters but struggled in his last two rounds and finished in a tie for 40th. He regained the top spot in the world rankings on 15 April but lost it to Donald again on 29 April. On 6 May, McIlroy was in contention at the
Wells Fargo Championship and went to a playoff with
Rickie Fowler and
D. A. Points. Fowler won the tournament on the first playoff hole with a birdie. The runner-up finish put McIlroy back at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking.
[83] After the runner-up finish, McIlroy would later miss the cut in his next three events, and fell again from number one ranking.
[edit]PGA Championship
McIlroy won the
2012 PGA Championship by a record eight strokes, which was done with a
birdie on the final hole.
[84][85][86] The record stood since
Jack Nicklaus won the
1980 PGA Championship by seven strokes.
[84][85][86] McIlroy started the final round with a three shot lead and shot a bogey free 66 to run away from the field. With this win, McIlroy became the youngest multiple major champion since
Seve Ballesteros won the 1980 Masters, and the 6th youngest of all time. The win also helped McIlroy regain the world number one ranking.
[edit]Pursuit of the FedEx Cup
McIlroy finished the regular season third in the
FedEx Cup standings. At
The Barclays, the first of four playoff events, he finished in a tie for 24th, dropping him to fourth in the standings. McIlroy won the following week at the
Deutsche Bank Championship to take the top spot in the standings. McIlroy entered the final round three strokes behind
Louis Oosthuizen and defeated him by one stroke.
[87] The win also put McIlroy at the top of the PGA Tour money list. McIlroy's success continued the following week when he won the
BMW Championship. With the win, he became the first European to win four PGA Tour events in a single season and the only person other than
Tiger Woods to win four events in a season since 2005.
[edit]Technique, additional mentors and coaches
McIlroy left ISM in 2011,
[89] with McIlroy joining Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management.
[90][91] Michael Bannon is expected to work full-time with Mcllroy beginning in October 2012.
[92]
[edit]Controversy
On 17 August 2010, McIlroy answered a media question regarding
Tiger Woods' potential of getting a captain's pick in the
Ryder Cup(despite his poor play at the time) by saying that any member of the European Team would "fancy his chances against him".
[93]
In May 2011, McIlroy was criticised for skipping
The Players Championship. The skip was controversial because 48 of the top 50 in the world participated in it, the other golfer skipping being fellow European
Lee Westwood.
[94]
On 17 July 2011, following a poor showing over the weekend in the
2011 Open Championship, McIlroy told the media that he was "not a fan of golf tournaments that are predicted so much by the weather,", and saying he would rather "wait for a year when the weather is nice" instead of tuning his game to prepare for the Open Championship. He also added that he would "rather play when it's 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind".
[95]
On 28 July 2011, after being criticised on air by commentator Jay Townsend about McIlroy's questionable course management skills during the first round of the
Irish Open, McIlroy wrote on Twitter telling Townsend to "shut up" and saying Townsend is a "failed golfer" and that "his opinion meant nothing". Later, McIlroy stood by his comments and stated that his comments were made in defence of his caddie J. P. Fitzgerald whom Townsend had been blaming for McIlroy's course management since 2008.
[96]
[edit]Personal life
McIlroy has self-identified as
British[97] and carries a British passport, although he usually shows reluctance to be drawn into a debate on his nationality.
[98]
When in Northern Ireland, he lives near the town of
Carryduff in County Down, about 20 minutes from Belfast. The land around his house includes a custom-made practice facility, as well as a scaled-down football pitch.
[99]
[edit]Amateur wins (5)
- 2005 West of Ireland Championship, Irish Close Championship
- 2006 West of Ireland Championship, Irish Close Championship, European Amateur Championship
[edit]Professional wins (9)
[edit]PGA Tour wins (6)
| Legend |
| Major championships (2) |
| FedEx Cup playoff event (2) |
| Other PGA Tour (2) |
|
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
[edit]European Tour wins (4)
| Legend |
| Major championships (2) |
| Other European Tour (2) |
|
[edit]Asian Tour wins (1)
[edit]Other wins (1)
[edit]Professional career summary
[edit]European Tour
| Season | Starts | Cuts
made | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top
10 | Top
25 | Earnings
(€) | Money
list rank |
|---|
| 2007 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 277,255 | 95 |
| 2008 | 27 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 696,335 | 36 |
| 2009 | 25 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 18 | 3,610,020 | 2 |
| 2010 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 1,821,050 | 13 |
| 2011 | 19 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 17 | 4,002,168 | 2 |
| 2012 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 2,813,962 | 1 |
| Career | 102 | 87 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 50 | 65 | 13,220,791 | 18[108] |
|---|
- As of 9 September 2012 [109]
[edit]PGA Tour
| Season | Starts | Cuts
made | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top
10 | Top
25 | Earnings
($) | Money
list rank |
|---|
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (amateur) | n/a^ |
| 2009 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 849,719 | n/a^ |
| 2010 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 2,554,280 | 26 |
| 2011 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1,905,609 | n/a^ |
| 2012 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 7,842,192 | 1 |
| Career | 53 | 44 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 30 | 13,151,800 | 88[110] |
|---|
- As of 9 September 2012 [111]
- ^ McIlroy was not a member of the PGA Tour in 2007, 2009 or 2011 so he was not included on the money list.
- Note that there is double counting of money earned (and wins) in the majors and World Golf Championships since they are official events on both tours.
[edit]Major championships
[edit]Wins (2)
[edit]Results timeline
LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit]Summary
- Starts – 17
- Wins – 2
- 2nd place finishes – 0
- Top 3 finishes – 5
- Top 5 finishes – 5
- Top 10 finishes – 6
- Top 25 finishes – 9
- Missed cuts – 3
- Most consecutive cuts made – 7
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2
[edit]Results in World Golf Championship events
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
[edit]Team appearances
Amateur
Professional
.jpg)
