There was Rory McIlroy, on the last green at the Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, giving one of those interviews on US television that made it clear: He is different. He rarely just says: everything is great, everything is great! He almost always gives reflective answers when time permits. Golf? “I don’t know if I’ll ever figure this game out,” he said, “but I wake up every day and try to get closer to it.”
McIlroy did well again last weekend, the Northern Irishman winning the CJ Cup, his first tournament of the new season, which always starts in the fall, with a total of 267 shots ahead of American Kurt Kitayama (268). His 23rd victory on the PGA Tour caused a significant shift in the world rankings: McIlroy is back at number one in the world rankings for the first time in more than two years. He himself was amazed at this development. If someone had told him in April, when he last failed to qualify for the final two rounds of a tournament, that he would be top at the end of the year, he would have asked, “What were you smoking?”
The golfing world has been in a state of excitement ever since Saudi Arabia started a new, megalomaniac professional tournament series called the LIV Tour and poached top players by the dozen for millions in wages. In the public perception, a duel of good versus evil has manifested itself, and in this play McIlroy has actually mutated into the leader of the supposedly good side, as a screenwriter could not invent better. But he not only talks intelligently, he is also an excellent golfer. McIlroy manages this combination.
He was the first to raise the issue of human rights in Saudi Arabia, who rejected the LIV Tour for moral reasons, who at the same time helped the PGA Tour, where all is not well, to improve things such as the tournament calendar. He is an ally of PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan and has power as a result. But, and this is where his story gets even more special, as a player he was by no means distracted by the ongoing debates about politics and morality. “It’s been a wild six months,” McIlroy said. “I figured out a few things in my game and just had a really good run.”
The only achievement he lacked in 2022 was a win at one of the four annual Majors. Otherwise, his year-end record is already spectacular: he won three tournaments, including the end-of-year tournament at the Fed Ex Cup. In 21 starts, he finished in the top ten 14 times. He was never worse than eighth in the majors. “I’m enjoying the game,” he said. The fact that he is again the best in the world rankings means a lot to him, “I’ve worked hard for the past twelve months”.