DUBAI – Rory McIlroy didn’t just look the part on Sunday night, he sounded spent – finally, sitting irritatingly for the first time in hours. His voice was hoarse and it seemed as if his shoulders had exhaled as much as his lungs.
McIlroy had lost a play-off but won a seventh career Race to Dubai title, all after nailing the 72nd hole – the combination of which would send us all into the depths of our seat cushions. But at this point in his career – after a lifetime of lifting trophies in this Middle Eastern country alone – very few literal results could make McIlroy so emotional. They are the results with special meaning who pulled it out of him, and this was clearly one of them.
European golf followers wouldn’t be surprised. About half an hour earlier, McIlroy gave a greenside interview to Sky Sports interviewer Tim Barter, where the subject of Seve Ballesteros came up. McIlroy had passed him into second all-time for the Race to Dubai titles.
“Yes, it is – aaah.”
Another big breath.
“I said this to you on this green last year,” McIlroy continued. “He means so much to this tour and to the European Ryder Cup team. We rally so much behind his spirit and his quotes and everything he meant to European golf.
“To match him last year was cool, but to surpass him this year – yeah, I didn’t get that far in my dreams. So it’s very cool.”
He teased it, so no, you’re not imagining it. McIlroy gave almost the exact same interview to Barter last year.
We’ve seen this a few times now: McIlroy choked up at the mere mention of the name Ballesteros. He certainly made part of the reason clear in those answers. The Ghost of Seve is very real for everyone on the DP World Tour and everyone associated with Ryder Cup Europe. His quotes are on every memorial wall. The silhouette of his swing is iconic. But because this reaction came multiple times for McIlroy, in such similar scenarios – just twelve months apart – I at least wondered if there was some additional meaning for him.
Few professionals are so introspective And vulnerable enough to share those inner thoughts as McIlroy, so it’s possible he thought about it too. Why doesn’t he get nearly as emotional when talking about his Irish golfing heroes? Or Tiger Forest? Arnold Palmer?
The truth lies with Gerry McIlroy, Rory’s golf-obsessed father, who worked multiple jobs with his mother so their son could pursue a Grand Slam golf career.
“I think Seve’s spirit lives on in the European Tour and in the European Ryder Cup team, and he was always my father’s favorite player,” McIlroy said during the first question of that press conference. His voice went from slightly hoarse to something much softer. He blinked away a few tears and shrugged.
“Yeah, he’s a beacon of what European golf is about, and I just… I just think about growing up and playing golf and my dad being such a big part of that, and then his kind of connection with Seve – or Seve was the one that really inspired him to play golf. And then, I don’t know, it’s just a parallel to that.”
This was a response that pieced together emotion word by word, like extra cars for a train that was already moving. But then he picked up steam and ended with a smile.
“When I hear Seve, it kind of takes me back to my whole journey in the game, and yeah, it’s quite emotional.”
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