24-04-2025
Here's why Rory McIlroy's parents were missing from the 2025 Masters
Here's why Rory McIlroy's parents were missing from the 2025 Masters
Rory McIlroy flew to Belfast last Friday to celebrate his Masters victory with his parents.
Gerry and Rosie have been living in Florida for several years now – with Gerry a regular at famed Seminole Golf Club – which made it surprising they weren't in attendance at Augusta National Golf Club to see their pride and joy complete the career Grand Slam. It's not unusual to see the McIlroys among the patrons following their only child during his previous 16 appearances at the Masters. It led at least one member of the media to joke that even his parents had given up on Rory's chances of winning a green jacket.
But as McIlroy detailed in Butler Cabin during the presentation of the green jacket and later during his winner's press conference, his parents were back home in Ireland glued to the TV set. What were they doing there? On Wednesday, Rory explained during an interview with PGA Tour Radio's Michael Breed they just bought a new house there and were busy moving into it during Masters week.
'Which they said was a good thing,' recounted McIlroy during the interview from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he and Shane Lowry are the defending champs. 'They were glad they had something to do to take their mind off of what was happening at the Masters.'
Gerry, a barkeeper at Holywood Golf Club where Rory learned the game, and Rosie, who toiled on an assembly line's graveyard shift, funded their son's dream of winning majors the hard way and have every reason to be proud of their son completing the career Grand Slam.
'Gerry McIlroy is one of those agreeable Irish souls with sparkling eyes, a shock of Spencer Tracy hair, and an infectious grin. He has the bearing of a seanchaí, the wiseman in an ancient Irish village who was the keeper of folklore and the teller of tall tales,' writes Timothy Gay in his forthcoming unauthorized biography of Rory, titled 'Rory Land,' which is set to be published next month. 'They believed that their gifted son could reach a distant shore if only they gave him a skiff, a pair of oars and a nudge.
'On that conviction, they upended their own lives. And not just in some peripheral way. Their faith in Rory's potential drove them to take on multiple jobs, work literally around the clock, forsake social lives, save every penny, get their child the best possible coaching, and travel to junior tournaments in exotic locales (Miami, San Diego, Honolulu, Milan) about which most of their blue-collar neighbors could only dream.'
If the back nine on Sunday was an all-time nail-biter for those just pulling to see history made and an 11-year winless streak in the majors come to an end, imagine what it must've been like for Rory's parents watching an ocean away. Rory gave us a window into what that was like, too. 'Mum couldn't stop crying and dad said it was the first time ever he's watched me play golf on TV and he's had to pour himself a drink,' McIlroy said.
Once a barkeeper, always a barkeeper.
"To be able to share this with them was incredibly special," Rory said.
