Rory McIlroy and his family flew to London following his Masters victory to check out their new mansion – which is being built on the Wentworth estate. The area in Virginia Water is home to several millionaires and the McIlroys are having their own property built.
The Northern Irishman flew with his wife, Erica, and their daughter, Poppy, after celebrating success at Augusta National. They then continued on to Belfast to celebrate McIlroy’s achievement with their close friends as the one Major that had eluded him was finally captured.
He beat Justin Rose in a play-off, sealing victory on the 18th hole having gone into Sunday’s final round as the leader. It ended an 11-year wait for a Major and means he joined an elite group of players to have won all four of golf’s most sought after titles.
McIlroy said: “It’s been an amazing few days after and to be able to reflect on it and everything that happened and the magnitude of everything. The big thing for me is how the whole journey is how it resonated with people. It’s not every day you get to fulfil one of your lifelong goals and dreams.
“We first went to London with Erica and Poppy to see our new home that we’re building and we made the trip over to Belfast to see a few other people that are important to us. Just to be with them, to be with Erica and Poppy and my mum and dad.
“To see Michael Bannon my lifelong coach and spend a bit more time with Harry (Diamond) and his wife. Celebrate with the people that have been part of this whole thing for my entire career was absolutely amazing. As you can hear, I picked up a bit of a cold on the way, so I’m feeling a little bit under the weather. Obviously, it’s been an amazing few days.”
There is now talk of McIlroy winning a sixth major title at next month’s US PGA Championship, but before that the 35-year-old hopes to land a second successive Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry after their 2024 victory. “I honestly could not be in a better place in my life, professionally, personally, all of it,” he said.
The newly crowned Masters champion will also play the Open Championship, which he won in 2014, on home soil this summer. The tournament’s rota sees it head back to Royal Portrush, which was last used in 2019 when Lowry won but McIlroy failed to even make the cut.
Plenty have tipped McIlroy, who also won the Players Championship back in March, to go on a run now that the weight of finally winning the Green Jacket has been lifted from his shoulders.
R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said: “I think he’s probably got some unfinished business here. We’re looking forward to a brilliant event.” He also added: “We were excited enough as it was, having the Open Championship back here, but I think that [McIlroy’s Masters win] is the icing on the cake and sets us up for a fantastic summer of golf“.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
