Tying the knot can be golfers’ secret ingredient
IT’S congratulations to Rory McIlroy on his marriage to Erica Stoll in Ireland yesterday.
As someone who has been happily married for 43 years to Lesley, I’m convinced that this can only have a positive effect on Rory’s golf.
Our sport looks glamorous from the outside – playing in exotic locations, staying in great hotels and travelling in private jets.
But a lot of the time a player is living out of a suitcase and is on his own, which is tough whoever you are.
So it’s crucial to a golfer’s wellbeing to meet the right person, not just to share the good times but more importantly share the disappointments.
Most weeks, you leave a tournament feeling disappointed or lukewarm at best. There are very few times you leave in a state of euphoria.
Travelling home is a cathartic experience. You can’t wait to get back to your own home and family and forget about golf.
Your partner needs to understand the ups and downs of the sport. That’s why it’s great that Rory’s new wife, Erica, used to work for the PGA of America. She knows golf and she knows golfers.
Erica seems happy to go under the radar. That is ideal for Rory and it’s a total contrast to when he was going out with tennis star, Caroline Wozniacki.
Rory couldn’t be any more driven to win Majors, but this will make him relaxed and settled.
Newly-married couples have a spring in their step and are refreshed and reinvigorated by their new status.
For many golfers, that never wears off. Look at the game’s greatest-ever player.
Jack Nicklaus got married to Barbara at 20, and that was the start of a perfect partnership.
He delivered 18 Majors on the course, but he’s always walked through the front door as “Dad” and then “Granddad” to five children and 22 grandchildren.
No-one has travelled more widely than Gary Player. He made it work with wife Vivienne and their six children as another incredible team.
And just two weeks ago, Sergio Garcia credited his fiancée, Angela Akins, as a big factor in him winning The Masters.
Happiness off the course gave him a new perspective in the heat of battle, and Sergio finally bagged that elusive Major.
For most of a round of golf, it’s just you and your thoughts. That’s why being happy and content is so important to your game.
Think of Danny Willett at last year’s Masters. He was on cloud nine after the safe arrival of his first child just days before.
In his mind, there was probably no pressure whether he won or lost because he couldn’t wait to fly home to see his new family.
As for Rory, he now heads off on honeymoon before he refocuses on his golf. He will want to win a Major this summer for Erica.
There would be no better present than the pair holding one of golf ’s most famous trophies.
IAN POULTER faces a hard route back to the top after losing his PGA Tour card by missing the cut at the Texas Open.
He is talking about playing on sponsors’ invites in America, but I believe his immediate future is on the European Tour.
His family is happily based in Florida, so that would be a big lifestyle decision for him.
But coming back to play in Europe and doing well is the likeliest route for him to get back into the world’s top 50.
Having watched Ian at close hand at Medinah at the 2012 Ryder Cup, it was sad to watch him last Sunday at Hilton Head when he couldn’t hole an important putt.
That told you everything about the pressure he was feeling. Changed days from when he was holing those crucial Ryder Cup putts.