Balanced approach from Mcilroy
Northern Irish superstar focused on staying fresh for a big summer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory Mcilroy went home to Northern Ireland after the Masters and left his clubs behind in Florida. He didn’t touch them again until he returned last week to start gearing up for a big summer that includes his title defence at the U.S. Open.
The Wells Fargo Championship will be only his second tournament in the last two months.
It’s an example of how Mcilroy, who turns 23 on Friday, already is learning to find balance in a life that is more public than ever and getting increasingly busy. He was in Germany to watch his girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, and he brought her home to Holywood in County Down on a whim.
“For me, there’s more to life than just golf,” Mcilroy said Wednesday. “I don’t know if people are surprised to hear that, but I have a lot more going on in my life than just golf.”
Mcilroy is growing into his role as the biggest of the game’s rising stars — on and off the golf course.
When he arrived at Quail Hollow, he made time Tuesday to film a commercial for the PGA Tour and its support of the St. Jude’s Children Hospital. Mcilroy appears in the commercial with Shaun White, a two-time Olympic gold medallist in snowboarding, and a seven-year-old boy named Dawson who is undergoing chemotherapy.
Mcilroy is not even playing the St. Jude Classic next month, which benefits the hospital. No matter. Boy Wonder is touched by children, as he showed last year during a UNICEF trip to Haiti. And he was especially moved by Dawson.
Mcilroy twice has reached No. 1 in the world this spring, only for Luke Donald to wrest it away from him last week in New Orleans. It’s a battle that could go on during the summer, with perhaps Lee Westwood rejoining the fray. Mcilroy or Westwood could go to No. 1 with a win this week. Donald is not playing.
“It would be nice to assert my authority in that No. 1 position and keep it for a while,” Mcilroy said.
Quail Hollow again has attracted a strong field on one of the top golf courses on the PGA Tour, so good that it already has landed the PGA Championship for 2017.
Tiger Woods, who won here in 2007, makes his first start since his worst Masters — a tie for 40th, and heavy criticism for kicking his 9-iron after a poor tee shot on the 16th hole in the second round.
Woods did not make himself available for interviews. Instead, he answered questions that fans submitted on Facebook and Twitter and posted the video on his website. And a few players had some fun with his decision.
“You guys didn’t see my video, huh?” Phil Mickelson playfully asked when he sat down for his interview.
Hunter Mahan, who shares the same swing coach as Woods, said with a smile at the end of his press conference, “I was going to announce that I’m only doing webcasts from now on.”
Woods won by five shots at Bay Hill in his last start before the Masters, so his performance at Augusta National was a surprise.
Mcilroy won his first PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow in 2010 when he closed with a 62, the sign of big things to come. He shot 63 at St. Andrews that summer to tie the major championship record, then shattered the U.S. Open scoring record at Congressional last year to finish at 16-under 268.
If nothing else, he should be fresh for this week.