Q&A: Rory McIlroy (Part 2)

Issue No. 119 | October 7, 2024

Greetings to all, and thank you for choosing to read the Normal Sport newsletter. Today is Part 2 of the Rory Q&A. He was generous with his time and — shocker — we got wound up and went a bit longer than I thought we would so we broke it up into two parts. If you missed Part 1, you can read it right here

One thing that has overwhelmed me throughout the last week of launching Normal Sport as a full time endeavor has been everyone’s generosity to try and help make this work for me as a job. That has been true both internally (within the Normal Sport org. and from close friends) and externally (within the broader golf and golf media world).

Thank you for that! I think last week was the hardest I’ve worked all year (!) but also possibly the most fun I’ve had (non-major edition). That work could be both fun and difficult is such a cool Venn middle. Difficult but not fun leads to burnout. Fun but not difficult leads to complacency. I feel grateful to, thus far, have encountered both.

Onto week two of the business and Part 2 of this interview.

Hope you enjoy!

KP: Who, growing up or coming up, never made it that you're the most surprised by? Just somebody that you were like, That guy was unbelievable, and I can't believe he never made it.

Rory: Philip Francis. He was from Scottsdale, Arizona. I finished second and third to him all of my teenage years. Like, just could not beat this guy.

He went to UCLA. He won the U.S. Junior, I think. He won the U.S. Junior Am. And I thought this kid was unbeatable. That's probably the biggest one, I think.

Ed. note: I went and read up on Philip Francis after this conversation and found three good nuggets.

1. Shipnuck on Francis playing the Deere in HS.

2. The Rickie Fowler comp (they almost played together at UCLA).

3. Why he didn’t make it and what he’s doing now.

And then there's maybe a few that ... Like a Jamie Lovemark, for example, who I played on Walker Cup, and you just look at him, you're like, this guy is like 6’4 and absolutely ripped and swings the club perfectly. I don't know. There's so many intangibles in golf that some guys looked like world leaders at an early age.

I tell you another one is an Oliver Fisher. So Ollie Fisher and I were like the two best ams coming out of the UK and Ireland. And he played Walker Cup, the one before I did. Got his tour card right away. And then, same thing. Sort of on and off the European tour. He's won a couple of European tour events.

But if you would have asked anyone 20 years ago ... Everyone would have said Ollie Fisher was probably going to go on to have a better career than I’ve had. It's hard.

I remember the first time, I think I told you this, the first time I played with Jordan Spieth, 2013 San Antonio. And I played the first two days with him, and he missed the cut. And I'm like, ‘What is the big deal with this kid? Very average.’ And he comes on and nearly wins the grand slam two years later.

KP: That's great. I remember a couple of years ago at the Players, you talked about just how — and I think this is true of all golfers — you struggle with identity of, ‘As a person, I'm not my golf score. I'm more than that. I shouldn't be reduced to that.’ Do you still find yourself struggling with identity, or do you feel more secure in that now?

Rory: I feel a lot more secure in that now. I probably feel a lot more secure in that since becoming a dad. That, to me, has totally changed my perception of good days and bad days on the golf course, especially bad days.

It's definitely softened the blows of the bad day. But then when you come home after a great day and she absolutely does not care that you just shot 63 and all she wants to do is play memory. It's like, ‘Okay, I'm going to go play memory.’ It's a pretty humbling thing. I used to struggle with it a lot, but I think since becoming a father it's definitely been … an automatic improvement in that part of my psyche when it comes to not bringing golf home with me.

KP: I'll tell you what's humbling is when your kids start beating you in memory.

Rory: Yeah. This is true.

KP: You and I have talked a lot about caring about the right things and just caring a lot about what we're doing and what's going on around us. I've always wondered this about people at your level, whether it's Scottie or you or whoever, how do you balance caring enough but not caring too much to where you're just trying to squeeze the thing so tight that it just becomes impossible?

Rory: Yeah … It's a very fine line to walk. I care a lot, and I care a lot because I love the game of golf, and I care because honestly I love being who I am, and I would love to end my career with achieving everything that I want.

So you have to walk this very fine line. I think Scottie does a really good job of it because he obviously cares a bunch, but he also is probably humble enough to know that it's not all in his control. And I think his faith has a massive part to do with that.

I think he, more than anyone right now that plays a game, has figured that out.

That's something that I'm always constantly trying to work on, is trying to have ... Rotella and I talk about giving each shot and each day the same low level of importance. Like, it's important, but it's not everything. How can you give everything that same low level of importance? And that's the balance that you're trying to strike.

KP: Even last week, or maybe it was a couple of weeks ago, you said something like, ‘I like golf because the next week, even if you fail, you can move on to the next thing.’ And that's what I love about writing daily. It's like, ‘Oh, I might have screwed that column up or whatever, but I know the next day I get another chance at it,’ which is both ... I don't know, it's really cool, but it also makes the really big moments — whether it's playing the Masters or writing about it — that much more difficult because you only get it once a year or whatever.

Rory: Yeah. And I think that my Olympic experiences have made me incredibly grateful that I play golf.

KP: Yes.

Rory: The most important thing to me is that I get a chance at them four times a year, not once every four years. Yeah. So compared to other sports, I think we're really lucky that, ‘Okay, if it doesn't happen for us in April, we have May. And if it doesn't happen for us in May, we have June. And if it doesn't happen for us in June, we have July.’ And then if that doesn't happen, then July to the next April is somewhat tougher. But I think that we have a few opportunities a year to add to our careers and to our legacy. We're in a lot more fortunate positions than some other sports people.

KP: Yeah, totally. Okay, last thing. Obviously, I'm launching this new business, new company. I've always wanted to ask you this. What's a question that you have always wanted to ask me or the media? We're constantly peppering you guys with question after question and every detail. And you guys never get to ask us anything. And I'm curious about what you've ever wanted to ask people in the media or me specifically.

Rory: So I would say the one thing that I ... and this isn't you. There's certain people in the game that I would say … how can I put this? We're all in this together, right? We're all in the game of golf together, and we all want to push forward. And I always wonder why some people in the media ask questions that have a negative connotation toward golf, or make golf look bad or put it in a bad light.

I get it. I get that it's human nature and negativity sells. And that's why CNN is the way it is, and why Fox News is the way it is and all that stuff.

But if we're all in this together and we all know that we can benefit by raising the game up, some people in the media I'd love to ask why their coverage of golf is so negative.

KP: I think it’s hard. I agree. I've always viewed it as like, ‘Okay, you don't want to be the rainbows and sunshine guy.’ Like when Rory loses the U.S. Open or whatever happens, it has to be like, ‘Man, this is ...’

Rory: No, that to me is fine. Whenever that happens, absolutely. I think it's more to do with the coverage of ... I guess it's true, but viewership is declining, and this is bad, and that's bad, and they hate the fans, and they hate this. I understand where they're coming from, but surely it's in everyone's best interest to focus on the positives of the game where recreational golf has never been better, there's more opportunities to play the game. Just stuff like that. Sometimes I wonder what their incentive is to be so negative at times.

For the overall game, I'm not talking about ... if someone messes up and you have to be critical of someone, absolutely. I think that is a part of it. I think I, more than anyone, I understand that and I know that. I'm not saying being critical of players. I'm saying being critical of the overall game of golf.

KP: No, I agree. I think that I've always viewed it as coverage being, at least the way that I do it, a celebration of the game by asking questions to people like you.

Here's the thing. I think people come at it from a position of pessimism a lot of times, because I think that a lot of curiosity is out of distrust. People don't trust other people, or they don't trust the way the world works.

And my curiosity is out of optimism, out of joy. I want to know … I've asked you, what brings you joy in the game? Where do you find it to be spiritual? I hope that people are drawn to that because I think it's a much more compelling … there's plenty of other people that do this. I'm not saying that I'm the only one, but I think It's a much more compelling and enjoyable way to live than being distrustful and pessimistic.

Rory: Could not agree more. Could not agree more. And that's why I gravitate toward your stuff because you find the funny side of things. And you … I don't think there's any other game in the world that is as closely correlated to life in general than golf. And you find those little instances more so than anyone else. And I think that's why, like me, I've always gravitated toward your writing and the way you see things. I guess I wish other people in the media landscape of golf would see it the same way. But again, not everyone is the same, and that's fine.

KP: No, I appreciate that. My wife has said before that I write about life, I just use golf to do it, which I totally agree with. And that's certainly what this new business will try to be. So I'm grateful for your time and grateful for, as always, how you view the world. And it's always always fun chatting.

Rory: Yeah. No, it is.

Thank you for reading until the end.

You’re a sicko, and I’m grateful for it.

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