Rory McIlroy’s heartwarming gesture surprises young golf fan

While tournament golf has been somewhat quiet the last couple of weeks, Rory McIlroy is among the pros teeing it up at this week’s Irish Open at The K Club in Straffan, Ireland.

McIlroy, who recently finished fourth at the Tour Championship, shot 69 to open the Irish Open, putting him four off the early lead. But earlier this week, on Wednesday, McIlroy had a visitor. Seven-year-old Michael Horgan has a brain tumor, and the golf enthusiast wanted to meet his favorite golfer, Rory McIlroy.

Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Michael requested a personalized video from McIlroy. But, according to the DP World Tour, “Rory and Make-A-wish Ireland had other ideas.”

The DP World Tour shared a video on Friday, in which Michael got to meet McIlroy during Wednesday’s practice round. McIlroy introduced himself to Michael before he teed off on the 9th hole. Michael then joined Rory in the cart, helped him lock in his approach yardage with a rangefinder and even rolled a putt on the green — though Michael knocked it enthusiastically past the hole. (“My dad always tells me to hit it softer,” he said.)

You can watch the entire interaction between Rory and Michael in the video below.

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.

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