BELFAST, Northern Ireland — From a Masters green jacket to The Open that will be played in his home Northern Ireland this year, suddenly everything seems to be falling into place for Rory McIlroy .
After he became the sixth golfer to achieve a career Grand Slam, McIlroy’s victory at Augusta National was celebrated throughout Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Locals were quick to point out that Royal Portrush will host The Open in July, marking only the third time that the course in Northern Ireland has had that honor after 1951 and 2019.
Royal Portrush is located about an hour’s drive from McIlroy’s hometown of Holywood. McIlroy’s 61 at age 16 in the 2005 North of Ireland championship still stands as the old course record at Royal Portrush.
“He has given us one of Northern Ireland’s biggest sporting achievements,” Emma Little-Pengelly, the country’s deputy first minister, posted on X . “He will undoubtedly get a deserved hero’s welcome when he comes home. The reception when he steps onto the first tee at Royal Portrush in July will be incredible. Hopefully he can give the home fans plenty to cheer as he bids to win a second Open Championship.”
The Open is the year’s last major. First, McIlroy will play the PGA Championship in May and the U.S. Open in June.
McIlroy defeated Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff on Sunday to win the elusive Masters title, adding to his two PGA Championship titles (2012 and 2014), one U.S. Open trophy (2011) and one Open (2014).
There were scenes of joy at McIlroy’s home club in Holywood when he finally won the Masters on his 17th try.
In England, the Manchester United soccer club published a note of congratulations on Monday addressed to McIlroy, who is a big fan of the team.
After saying during the winner’s press conference that he wants to celebrate with his parents back home in Northern Ireland “next week,” McIlroy was asked if he might take the green jacket to a game at Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium.
“If it can inspire some better play, absolutely,” McIlroy said.
Former world snooker champion Dennis Taylor declared McIlroy Northern Ireland’s “greatest ever sportsman”
That’s no small assertion for a country that has produced soccer great George Best and snooker star Alex Higgins.
“Massive congratulations to Rory McIlroy on his incredible victory at The Masters—making history as the first ever from our island to win the prestigious Green Jacket!” Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill said on X. “This is a huge moment in sporting history, and one that has filled everyone back home with great pride.”
Irish premier Micheal Martin described the win as “epic”.
“It was an incredible evening and we were all up late in the morning,” Martin added Monday.
The Irish premier said the occasion reminded him of Ireland’s 1990 World Cup penalty shootout win over Romania and George Hamilton’s famous “the nation holds its breath” commentary.
“Well, we were holding our breath every five minutes for a good few hours yesterday,” Martin said. “Literally holding our breath at every putt and every tee shot. It was a marvelous national occasion and it’s a moment in time that we will all remember.”
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt called for McIlroy to be knighted.
“For a country the size of Northern Ireland, it is remarkable how many sports people have become icons in their fields. Think George Best, Mike Gibson (rugby), and Mary Peters (athletics), to name just three. Rory McIlroy has just trumped all of them and, with the Grand Slam monkey off his back, looks set for even more success,” Nesbitt said.
“This universally popular figure deserves the highest praise the nation can bestow, and a knighthood is just that,” Nesbitt added.
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