Well golf fans, it didn’t take too long for us to find another hero to lead the sport forward. As Tiger slowly moves into the shadows another young golfer with talent and personality to be the poster-boy of the PGA emerges in the form of the 22 year old Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy recently became the youngest US Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923 and his dominating win at the US Open has brought much needed excitement to the PGA. Every sport needs a prodigy, every sport needs a phenom and when golf lost Tiger Woods, the sport looked for the next one, that search appears to be over.
Let’s hope that Rory learns from Tiger’s mistakes. Once you become the poster boy of a sport you must live by different rules. If drinking and carrying on is part of your lifestyle, you have to live that, there’s no sense hiding it, nobody likes a faker.
There’s nothing that can destroy a young superstar’s future faster than being tied down in a relationship. It’s no coincidence that Rory’s rise to glory came after he broke up with his high-school sweetheart.
Remember McIlroy’s collapse at the Masters?
Interestingly enough, that collapse may have been in part to him being distracted. As the Belfast Telegraph reported back in April: “Rory McIlroy’s life took another bizarre twist at the Masters after former girlfriend Holly Sweeney turned up out of the blue. She came to congratulate him on his win. … Unknown to McIlroy, or indeed to anyone outside his management company, Holly had secretly rushed over from Ireland to surprise him on the 18th green at the conclusion of the season’s opening Major. It was supposed to be a fantastic celebration, a joyous snapshot to go around the world.”
Instead what happened was one of the most fantastic collapses in Masters history. Let’s call a spade a spade, essentially she showed up uninvited on the biggest day of his life and she fucked up his money.
As a young 22 year old with superstar talent and a penchant for partying like a true Irishman, there’s no doubt in my mind that Rory needs to enjoy being young and have as much fun as he can while he racks up golf titles.
He can take a page out of Derek Jeter’s book. Jeter was notorious for carrying on in his prime years as a Yankee, there was no scandals printed in the newspapers because he was single and living the life, the world appreciates that. What the world doesn’t appreciate is a man masquerading as family man while living the life of a player on the side, behind our backs.
If partying, flipping up skirts and blasting Jägerbombs is what puts Rory in his comfort zone then that’s the way he needs to live. What he doesn’t need is the pressure of being in a media scrutinized relationship on his back while he’s trying to beat the best in the world and win golf titles. That’s how you end up in a crashed Escalade on Thanksgiving.
The media loves authenticity and Rory McIlroy is one of a kind.
Again, it’s no coincidence that when McIlroy clinched his first major at the US Open, Holly Sweeney wasn’t there. Instead, McIlroy gave his father the best Father’s Day present a son can give by winning the US Open Trophy.
Meanwhile, Holly Sweeney tweeted, “My fabulous boyfriend has played flawlessly all week! Drink up northern ireland he’s done us proud! Here’s to the sick days tomorrow WOOOOO.” Perhaps she sees her investment starting to pay off.
As for Rory, his twitter account read a little differently.
His twitter account message read: Jägerbombs 1 Rory 0.
Atta boy Rory, don’t worry, Jägerbombs generally go undefeated.
The Belfast Telegraph reported Rory’s agent Chubby Chandler commenting on the golfer’s split from his girlfriend, “I think Rory just found the life he was leading made it very difficult to maintain a relationship.”
True to his heritage, McIlroy partied in style, drinking out of the US Open trophy and carrying on like a true champion. He’ll certainly be among the favourites for golf betting moving forward, and with his penchant for drinking, carrying on and winning championships, he’s become a favourite in our books as well.
