McILROY STRIKES NEW £80m KIT DEAL WITH NIKE

RORY McILROY, in the month when he is to get married and attempt to fulfil his career ambition and win the Masters, has signed a new 10-year deal with American sportswear firm Nike estimated to be worth $100million (£80m). McIlroy’s last deal with the company was worth a good deal more, but Nike have since pulled out of the lucrative golf equipment market and so the terms have been renegotiated. In contrast with the grand production that greeted that last announcement in Abu Dhabi in 2013, Nike announced this with a brief statement. ‘I’ve loved this company since I was a kid,’ McIlroy said in the release. ‘I’m really happy to continue this journey with Nike.’ Also coming up during the next month is a wedding and a honeymoon and, oh yes, a tilt at the career Grand Slam at the Masters at Augusta this week. In an interview with ESPN, McIIroy didn’t hide what it would mean to him to become the first European to complete the Slam — winning the Open, US Open, the PGA and Masters. Asked if he would always feel unfulfilled if he didn’t win a green jacket, he replied: ‘I’d love to give you an answer and say my life is already fulfilled, with everything that’s happened and going to happen in the future with starting a family and all that. But there’d be a tiny piece missing. Yeah, I wouldn’t be fulfilled if I didn’t get it.’ Meanwhile, at the Houston Open, the American Russell Henley claimed the last invitation to Augusta with a three-stroke win from overnight leader Sung Kang. Henley shot a final-round 65 to finish on 20-under. England’s Justin Rose and Andy Sullivan both shot 70 for top 15 finishes.