When, as a 15-year old prodigy 20 years ago, Rory McIlroy first burst on the scene by winning the West of Ireland Amateur Championship at Rosses Point, his much older, fellow-Irish competitors at the time recognised immediately that it was a certainty that the Holywood, Northern Ireland golfer was destined to become ‘the special one’.
Since then, a mind-boggling, number of words have been written about Rory. Many of them direct quotes of his joys and frustrations of which he has had more than his fair share.
Letting it all hang out has led to Rory contradicting himself often, which is not surprising, perhaps, given that he’s become one of the most reflective and outspoken golfers of his generation without completing second-level education. And doing so in the full public glare is not an easy thing to do.
Perhaps, the contradiction that somebody so talented could go almost 11-years between winning his fourth and fifth major championship when ‘the whole world’ (including Jack Nicklaus) thought he would have won at least 10 by now inspired Timothy M. Gay, an accomplished Virginia-based writer who specialises in politics, sports, and history to spend two years trying to find out what made ‘this perplexing Irish golfer’, tick?
To publish the result of his labours within weeks of when Rory threw off the shackles of a decade of disappointment and climbed to the apex of Grand Slam immortality, was accidental more than opportune. Sure, nobody knew if the Augusta jinx would finally be broken?
It goes without saying that the ‘mountain’ of Rory’s already published words provided the author with a daunting resource on which to cast his investigative eye, not to mention the large number of Irish golf cognoscenti with whom he corresponded and spoke. How do you sift through it all and make coherent sense of such an extraordinary up and down career that will forever be seen as one of THE greatest of all time – although it is far from finished yet?
Go back to the beginning, I suppose? Before the beginning even by spending two weeks in Belfast where the author ‘dug deep’ into ‘generations of family history’ and how the infamous Troubles in Northern Ireland may have impacted all lives, not only the McIlroys? It clearly shaped the attitudes of Rory’s parents, Gerry McIlroy and Rosie McDonald.
Rory inherited tough genes. The unique sacrifices his parents made so that their only son would succeed is legendary. Gerry, an excellent scratch golfer had the good sense and grace to stay out of Rory’s way when his son’s talent was obvious and he allowed professionals like Michael Bannon, Nick Faldo, and Darren Clarke to be his son’s guide in his early years.
Determination to better one’s circumstances and an ability to ‘postpone life’s rewards’ was imbedded in the McIlroy and McDonald psyche for generations. Most admirably when struggling through the toughest of times in a community bedevilled by discrimination, hatred, and bigotry and an absence of Christian charity. Nor were the McIlroys untouched by the worst of horrors.
Written for all of those loyal fans who ‘pulled’ for Rory week in, week out, and despite all of the heartbreak he was causing himself and them? Such resilience and ‘never give up’ attitude comes from “a long line of very tough people”, is Gay’s succinct summary.
By joining him every step of the way through Rory’s triumphs and failures I enjoyed a great read and found the author is a fan too who went through torment with every loose shot that Rory played in that incredible final round at Augusta National in April.
Gray’s admiration shines through without it preventing some of the less auspicious moments in the golfer’s life being covered. Everyone is human. It just happens that Rory McIlroy is the most extraordinary human Northern Ireland has ever spawned. Timing is everything and Tim Gay darn sure got that bit of Rory Land spot on!
RORY LAND: The Up-and-Down World of Golf’s Global Icon by Timothy M. Gay, is published by Regalo Press in the USA and Simon & Schuster UK in Great Britain and Ireland. It is available on Amazon and in the major bookshops in the UK and Ireland where it has an epilogue added to cover the 2025 Masters Tournament, not included in the original USA edition.
