Just Rory.
McIlroy's Irish Open win is another memorable moment in his storied career and a core memory for the Irish sporting world.
It’s never, ever boring when it comes to Rory McIlroy.
On these pages I’ve written about the Down man at his lowest after the pain of letting the 2024 US Open slip through his fingertips, and at his highest after this year’s monumental Masters and Grand Slam sealing victory at Augusta.
There’s few sportspeople in this day and age that put you through the ringer, for better or worse, as much as McIlroy. For such a star-studded career, amongst the greatest golf has ever seen, he’s had so many elements of triumph and tragedy that his inevitable autobiography will be the first to come out in a multi-series anthology.
On Sunday he added another chapter to his epic. It won’t be one that’ll lead the headlines when he retires, nor a win that will create that much of a flicker worldwide when you’re in discussion about Rory McIlroy, the five-times golf Major winner.
But for several thousand at Kildare’s K Club on Sunday evening, plus many more watching at home, it’ll be a moment that sticks deep and fondly in the memory of Irish fans for a very, very long time.
Producing an eagle for the ages on the 18th hole to claw himself two shots up the leaderboard and into a share of the lead after four days of the Irish Open and onto a play-off against Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren. From 27 feet, he landed a putt that sent the crowd into raptures and arose resting dogs from their slumber in living rooms across the nation.
A collective moment of anarchy shared by a sporting obsessed nation, seeing their guy do something incredible. Because it’s always Rory and it’s only ever just Rory.
The images and scenes quickly spread across the sporting world. For a competition that is a mere speedbump on the golfing calendar, McIlroy has helped keep it afloat, either through his own sponsorship or his guaranteed attendance on an annual basis, ensuring the weekend always draws a strong homegrown crowd and elevates its exposure.
Now the tournament has a moment that will be revered and enter highlight reels and marketing and branding packages forever more. Not only for the Rory factor, but seeing the shared jubilation between sons and fathers in the background, as well as the massive collection of kids who got to witness the moment cements it as a scene that truly grows the game of golf, a turgid line that is often trotted out from LIV and their connected cash cows. This is what truly helps the game reach new heights - organic moments that are accessible to young fans, seeing the biggest stars doing incredible things on their very doorstep.
Taking that eagle into the play-off, it took three further laps of the 18th hole to separate the two. Devastatingly for Lagergren, ranked 1,194th in the world, a visit into the water on the third approach gave McIlroy a chance to seal the win, and so he did with a straightforward birdie-ing of the hole. To credit Lagergren, it was a career performance from the 33-year-old that included a fantastic eagle on the 16th to rocket him into a solo lead down the stretch.
But Rory rallied, helped by a bizarre 13th hole birdie where the ball not only circled the cup, but left the lip and then rolled back in.
The 18th hole eagle will surely soak warmly for Rory, a moment that will live long in the memory. Even in such a monumental year for his career where he finally got over the Masters hump and got a hold of his coveted green jacket, that eagle drop that reverberated around his home nation will be one to savour when all is said and done.
With the Ryder Cup to come, the scenes in Kildare will be a welcome sendoff for Rory and his European compatriots to what’s likely going to be a very heated atmosphere in New York in a few weeks time.
And for Irish golf, this Irish Open success - McIlroy’s second, having won at the same course in 2016 - will be massive for the growth of the sport on his home soil. Although it’s already in a healthy place in professional terms with several names competing on the international stage, the grassroots game has immense room for elevation.
The Ryder Cup is on its way to Adare in 2027 and there’s a likelihood that the Open Championship will eventually be played on Irish soil. Making the Irish Open a key component of the calendar is essential for the sport in Ireland and if this occasion can help cement that slot and even attract some bigger names from across the Atlantic, will all go to making it an unmissable event.
It’s also essential for Ireland to look at the infrastructure around some of the links course across the amazing Irish coastline to make it a more attractive prospective for the world’s top players, and also make it a picturesque invitation for golf fans and international viewers. Ireland boasts some of the best courses in the world and its a shame they rarely get a chance to shine on an international stage.
As for Rory, that’s not his worry right now as he’s done more than his fair share for Irish golf.
For all the grandeur of Augusta, the green jackets and the silverware that glitters in clubhouses thousands of miles away, his greatest gift to Irish sport is often found in fleeting moments like Sunday evening at The K Club. Moments that stop households, bind generations, and remind people why they fell in love with sport in the first place.
In the end, the win itself may fade into the long ledger of Rory McIlroy’s career. But that putt, that roar, that shared eruption across a small island obsessed with sport will endure forever. And it’s in those snapshots, as much as in any major triumph, where McIlroy’s true legacy lies.