Rory McIlroy's Biography

Who is Rory McIlroy?

He left school when he was 16 and focussed on his golf.

His parents, Gerry and Rosie McIlroy had taken a variety of jobs, working long hours to help support their son in his talent for golf.

One of Gerry's jobs was a bartender at Holywood Golf Club, where Rory played when he was young.

Gerry McIlroy and three friends were so confident of Rory's golfing talent that they put £100 each into a kitty and bet at odds of 500-1 that Rory, then just 15, would win the Open before the age of 25.

In 2005 he had become the youngest winner of the West of Ireland and Irish Closed Championship.

Rory McIlroy turned golf pro in 2007.

Rory finished third in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, only his second event as a professional.

His first victory as a golf professional was the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic.

In 2010 Rory McIlroy won the Quail Hollow Championship.

Rory McIlroy very nearly claimed his first major in April 2011, but he lost a dominant lead in the final round of the US Masters and ended up tying for 15th place.

However, he bounced back, and in June 2011, Rory McIlroy, aged just 22, won the US Open at Congressional with a record low score for the tournament of 16-under par.

McIlroy used to go out with Holly Sweeney, however in the summer of 2011, he started dating tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.

McIlroy and Wozniacki were due to marry in November 2014, but the wedding was called off in May 2014.

In October 2011, Rory McIlroy left his agent Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler at International Sports Management, whose other golfers managed included Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, and joined Dublin-based Horizon.

Shortly afterwards Rory McIlroy won the Shanghai Masters.

On 31 December 2011, Rory McIlroy was awarded the MBE.

In August 2012, he won his second major, the US PGA Championship.

In July 2014, Rory McIlroy won his first Open Championship. It was his third major title. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are the only other golfers to win three majors by the age of 25.

In August 2014, Rory McIlroy won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and returned to the top of the world rankings.

Later that month Rory McIlroy won the US PGA Championship to become the first UK player to win back-to-back majors. He beat Phil Mickelson by one shot.

In June 2016, Rory McIlroy announced that he was pulling out of the Olympic Games because of concerns about the Zika virus.

McIlroy said: "my health and my family's health comes before everything else".

"Even though the risk of infection from the Zika virus is considered low, it is a risk nonetheless and a risk I am unwilling to take."

Ireland's Olympic golf team leader Paul McGinley called the decision surprising and disappointing.

In September 2016, Rory McIlroy won a play-off against Ryan Moore to win the Tour Championship and in so doing won the FedEx Cup, the PGA Tour's season-long points race.

In March 2018, Rory McIlroy won his first victory since September 2016 as he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

In March 2019, he won the Players Championship at Sawgrass, a shot ahead of Jim Furyk.

On 9 June 2019, McIlroy won the Canadian Open by seven shots. It was his 16th PGA Tour title.

in August 2019, he won the Tour Championship for a second time to secure the FedEx Cup title and a $15 million prize.

In February 2020, Rory McIlroy went top of the rankings without playing a tournament.

In May 2021, he won the Wells Fargo Championship, his first victory since November 2019.

In 2022, McIlroy finished top of the season-long DP World Tour rankings.

In May 2024, he won his fourth Wells Fargo Championship.

Around the same time he broke up with his wife Erica. They had one child, Poppy.

However, shortly afterwards Rory and Erica resolved their differences and dismissed the divorce petition.