Rory's Glory (18 page)

He could not arrange to meet Caroline to end it because it would have been too emotional and galling that they would probably not be able to end it together. It was a cruel way to end it from afar but ultimately, this really was for the best for both of them.

Over the course of the following months they would reap enormous benefits from their new found freedom. They entertained the world for two years and let us be honest – we all loved watching the pair popping up in photos in the most exotic places and in sport.

Did we not marvel at Caroline in a white caddy suit carrying the bag for Rors at our proud Irish Open? Did we not love that moment where she asked Rory to come on court in America and have a few tennis shots with her – or the putt she sank at Augusta?

They were a breath of fresh air and a beautiful young couple. Top level professional sport and business can be cruel. However, when their careers finish, the love that was suppressed for the good of their careers will rekindle and flow again in a different sense.

Over many years into the future, many memories will flood back into their separate lives. Their lovely honest hearts will flutter at the thoughts and feelings behind those images until the day they die.

In the short term, their love will remain strong in an altogether new setting. They will feel a deep fondness, gratitude and pride for inspiring each other to greatness that would follow for both.

After the shock had sunk in with an obviously distraught Caroline, and the cold sobering thoughts that this was very real, she had to do certain things in the coming days and weeks which must have torn at her heart.

The invitations to a lavish wedding at New York's Rockefeller Centre which she was preparing to send out, together with the £100,000 gold engagement ring Rory put on her finger, were put away in some obscure place where the sun never shines.

And then there was one final act. All her photos of Rory, in her homes and on her Twitter and Facebook pages, along with tweets and messages and cuddly toys and travel mementoes, had to be taken down.

Of course the speculation then went into overdrive on the part of the media. There were all sorts of reasons put forward as to ‘why'. Some bordered on the ridiculous while some were quite plausible and possible.

Perhaps the silliest reason put forward for their parting, in my view, was the photo Caroline posted of Rory beside her on a beach resort. It was a less than complimentary photo of him, while she and good friend Serena Williams had a right laugh over it.

Apparently Rory was not best pleased. To me, it is rubbish to suggest that many months later Rory would be holding that against her to the point of ending their engagement. One thing seems certain – the real reason will be revealed in a future autobiography.

My own personal view is that any one, or all, of three things contributed to their parting. All three are based on actual facts that affect relationships – be it current or past loves or people we know – and which seemed to afflict Rory and Caroline too:

(i)   The most important reason was the one which also caused Rory to split on no less than three previous occasions. Call it ‘Betterment of Career' and you have Rory leaving Holly Sweeney, IMG and Horizon.

(ii)  The second reason is ‘Arguments'. It is well known that everybody has disagreements. The saying goes ‘you wouldn't be a couple if you didn't argue'. As sure as they had their first date and first kiss, Rory and Caroline also had their first argument (arguments can be silent moods as well).

(iii) Lastly, but by no means least, is ‘No Future'. There is a very true saying: ‘long distance relationships don't work'.

For the first reasoning, Rory's career was in the doldrums. Despite halting his slide with that win in Australia, he did not win a major in 2013. With Nike on board, success is measured in terms of majors and rankings so he simply had to be successful – and soon.

In order to get back to winning majors again, Rory had to make massive changes in his life. He had to cut out all the extra baggage of weekends away in exotic locations and that could only mean one thing.

The second reason is that of disagreements between the pair. If you look again at their initial statements on the split, you will see that there is only one common denominator in both – they express love for their respective favourite football teams.

Why, on such an important matter, did Caroline feel the need to put in her love for Liverpool? It was also noticeable how Rory perked up and came alive when he was asked about playing the pro-am with three Manchester United legends.

There seems little doubt both had differences of opinion on matters between their football teams. Manchester United endured a desperate season while Liverpool almost won the Premiership.

To make matters worse, Liverpool did the double over United. At the start of the season they won 1-0 at Anfield and towards the end of the season at Old Trafford, Liverpool humiliated them 3-0.

In a season of woe for Manchester United, Caroline probably had one two many ‘digs' at Rory and on Twitter. She also seems to have a soft spot for present and former Liverpool players, including fellow Dane, Daniel Agger, as well as Slovakian, Martin Skrtel.

Do not for one moment downplay this. Sport, like politics and religion, can become a very emotive subject amongst people. Furthermore, both football clubs have a history of not seeing eye-to-eye. This transmits to a great majority of their supporters.

On another matter – was there a disagreement regarding wedding guests? Was there a golfer or soccer player who was not flavour of the month with one of them to the point where a serious objection and ‘silence argument' took place?

Another source of tension could have been time. Rory was jetting all over the world to spend quality time with Caroline. Perhaps occasionally, when he arrived and could not wait to see her, he felt she was not fully giving of her time to him or vice versa.

These are things that happen to all of us and arguments, particularly in the early stages of relationships, are one of the biggest causes of splits. So Rory was also right in what he said, that: ‘I'm no different than anyone else – everyone has been through break-ups'.

The third point really speaks for itself: they really had no future. It is a well known fact long distance relationships rarely (if ever) work. As well as that, they were far too young to settle down in their early 20s.

With that in mind, there was one subject not brought up by the media –
pre-nuptial agreements/alimony.
Rory could have had the serious implications of this pointed out to him by his elder advisors.

Tiger Woods' divorce could have served as a sobering reminder to him of future pitfalls surrounding a possible marriage split of his own. In 2010, Fox News reported that Woods settled on a $750 million alimony figure with Elin Nordegren!

It was the biggest American divorce settlement in history with Elin also getting custody of the children. Most of the colossal sum was a sort of insurance policy whereby she agreed to remain silent on his alleged affairs with three named women and up to 17 others.

So most certainly, there were huge risks for Rory rushing into marriage at the age of 25.

A future of unlimited potential to be gained from their respective sporting careers meant that, in truth, they were just a little too young to settle down. It was for the best, sentiments echoed entirely by Europe's 2012 Ryder Cup Captain Jose Maria Olazabal.

When he was asked for his views on the split he lamented:

It is tough for golfers to have relationships. We spend a lot of time away from home and it is hard to keep a relationship going. There are some good things about golf but also some not so good things. I wish Caroline and Rory all the best. Their time will come. They are very young.

S
ensationally, Rory McIlroy went on to win that BMW Championship in England. The very tournament he held a shaky record in, and where it seemed more important to turn up because all the top Europeans were travelling to play in it.

Just three days after pouring his heart out to the world over his decision to part with Caroline Wozniacki, he won. It was a mysterious win. You could never say that Rory set the world alight with his golf that week.

For the first few days, and somewhat understandably, he seemed to be just going through the motions. A first round 68 was promising but a 71 the next day followed by a 69 indicated that a win was never really on the cards as he trailed leader Tomas Bjorn by seven shots.

It was as if his thoughts were off course – wondering if he had made the right decision; looking and feeling the crowds response to it and gauging how the players and the golf world had taken the news.

Caroline's fellow Dane, Tomas Bjorn, was one of those to commiserate with Rory and this probably helped to lift a weight off his shoulders. The crowd warmed to him as well and all of a sudden he began to feel free and ready to express himself on the course.

The chains and shackles had been removed. So far behind going into the final round, he could loosen his elbow with nothing to lose. He shot a magnificent 66 as Bjorn, who held a five shot lead over Donald, really threw the tournament away with a disastrous +3, 75.

Beaming with delight as he held the trophy and a cheque for just short of €800,000, Rory admitted as much as he said:

I'm not exactly sure what I am feeling right now. It has obviously been a week of very mixed emotions. I'm sitting here looking at this trophy going: ‘How the hell did it happen this week?' But it did. I feel happy that I have won obviously but it has been a weird week.

However, the win finally rewarded him after he had been ultra consistent in the majority of tournaments played since the start of the 2014 season. He hit the ground running in Abu Dhabi back in January when he was runner-up.

A fortnight later at the Dubai Desert Classic he opened up with a superb -9, 63. This helped him to a top 10 finish before he jetted home to Florida where he was about to take the US Tour by storm over the next three months.

He may have walked out of the Honda Classic the previous year but 12 months on, he thrilled the locals by opening with yet another 63. Further rounds of 66 and 69 put him in position for a sensational win but a 74 spoiled what would have been a perfect return.

Nevertheless a cool half million dollars and runner-up finish showed that he was in great form with one eye on the US Masters a month later. Before Augusta he finished 25
^th
in the Cadillac and a week before the first major finished seventh in the Houston Open.

You just had to admire where he and his coach had come from. No missed cuts to mid-April, two 63s and two runners-up positions was a total contrast and the perfect tonic and antidote to the miserable year before. But the one that really mattered was up next.

Rory stated previously that, since his ‘Masters meltdown', he always seems to throw in a bad nine holes at Augusta. It happened again when he shot a +5, 77 in the second round which after a modest opening 71 put him in grave danger of missing the cut.

He just about made it with another 71 but those rounds were never going to trouble Bubba Watson who went on to win it by three shots. A final effort of 69 brought Rory up to a share of eighth with the likes of veteran Bernhard Langer.

It was another top 10 but the Masters is now becoming one big psychological worry for him. Forever at the back of his mind will be the thought that he may never get a better chance of winning than in 2011 when he led the field by four shots on the final day.

Augusta is a very mysterious course. It is governed by great golfing gods looking at you from every direction. The spirits of great souls past pervade that glorious piece of golfing heaven.

Winds seem to blow in and across from different directions; they can cause confusion and the haunting sounds of birds which echo through the valleys and shady areas are enough to put you off your concentration.

Irish legend and ‘World Golf Hall of Fame' recipient Christy O'Connor Senior never wished to play the Masters and never did despite numerous invites. He was not the only one.

Lee Trevino could not abide it and only played on sufferance as the PGA threatened to throw the book at him. When he did eventually come back and play it, he preferred to stay in his room and mend his clubs rather than socialise with those who forced his hand.

Phil Mickelson was exasperated for years in trying to win the event. Butch Harmon told him that he would not win unless he modified his aggressive driving. Although Phil persisted and eventually climbed into a Green Jacket, there is a lesson for Rory.

What he must do to win a Masters is to start playing ‘smart golf' around there. He has laughed about ‘the cabins' incident and gone back to inspect it but what he has probably not thought about is the fatalistic message behind that pivotal moment.

Many sportsmen and women have their superstitions. Equally their sports are full of them, and as a studious observer of sport since I was a young boy, it is actually remarkable how time and again many of them ring true.

Football has its ‘if you don't convert your chances you'll be punished' and ‘luck evens itself out', while in snooker they say ‘the balls won't forgive you'. There are powerful forces at work everywhere.

Why did Rory clip that tree? He could not believe what happened. It is the same as asking Tiger Woods why he suddenly decided to start leaving his driver in his bag. Tiger knew he had to begin playing smart golf instead of power golf. It won him majors.

At Augusta, Rory: strategically and with great care plot your way, whereby you must start to caress and use finesse. Love that ball and love the course. Marvel at it bouncing into the nice carpeted fairways and greens; look around to feel and understand its history.

Only then you will begin to understand how you must give yourself as a sacrifice to their gods. Once they know they have your love and respect, you will be rewarded. Power, aggression and the wrong frame of mind are frowned upon.