Liberated! Rory Wins Just Days After Break-Up
/On a course where he hasn't enjoyed much success in an event he was reluctantly playing after dumping his bride-to-be, Rory McIlroy got a free pass all week from a British press that would have roasted say, Tiger, for bringing unwanted relationship attention to the flagship BMW Championship. Then Rory went out and won the thing, making them even more smitten with the lad!
We'll forgive them because the ledes from our friends in the UK, where they still (thankfully) love their outstanding newspapers, make for a fun study. However, it's Golfweek.com's Alistair Tait that took home the gold medal in my book.
The rest of the world’s top golfers will be hoping Rory McIlroy gets back into another relationship quickly.
Paul Mahoney in the Independent covered a little of this and that:
Love hurts. Winning certainly helps heal the pain. Rory McIlroy may have cancelled the wedding in New York, but at least the reception at Wentworth on Sunday was terrific.
Ewan Murray in The Guardian shoves aside any attempts for the succinct lede but does the win justice:
The finest sporting scriptwriters would have struggled to come up with this one. Rory McIlroy, ashen-faced and on the verge of tears because of personal upheaval before a Wentworth ball was struck, surged to an astonishing victory at the BMW PGA Championship. Even in the 25-year-old’s dramatic life to date, he has not had a five-day spell remotely close to approaching this one.
The normally cynical James Corrigan swooned:
There can be no questioning Rory McIlroy's competitive character - not after this. On a course where he had previously struggled, with his emotions in turmoil after calling off his wedding, the young Northern Irishman won his first professional title on his own continent.
Rory owns a continent!
Derek Lawrenson brings us back to earth with this image. Kind of.
As he waited for those behind to finish, Rory McIlroy sat in the recorder’s area with his face in his hands, shaking his head in disbelief.
Even by his own standards for shoving a cold shoulder in the face of the conventional, what happened at Wentworth on Sunday was simply stunning.
A meager highlight package from the European Tour website.
The always excellent "With This Win" package of facts and figures from the European Tour.
Iain Carter's post round BBC interview: