Why Rory McIlroy’s parents missed his emotional Masters win

With apologies to Gay Talese, Rory McIlroy has a cold.

On Wednesday at the Zurich Classic — McIlroy’s first start since his historic Masters win — McIlroy addressed the media with a heavy head and nasally tone, no doubt a byproduct of what has been a whirlwind, toast-filled two-week celebration.    

“It’s not every day you get to fulfill one of your lifelong goals and dreams,” McIlroy said, “and I’ve just really tried to enjoy everything that comes along with that.”

McIlroy’s first stop after Augusta was London, where he and his wife, Erica, are building a house. From there, McIlroy said, he, Erica and their 4-year-old daughter, Poppy, hopped a jet to Belfast to spend time with Rory’s parents, Gerry and Rosie, and “a few other people that are important to me.”  

Among that group of revelers, McIlroy said, were Michael Bannon, Rory’s swing coach since his Holywood youth, and Rory’s caddie and boyhood friend, Harry Diamond, and his wife. “To celebrate with the people that have been a part of this whole thing for my entire career, my entire life, was absolutely amazing,” McIlroy said.

But back to Gerry and Rosie, who, when Rory was coming up the ranks, famously made great sacrifices to help him achieve his dreams. Gerry worked 100-hour weeks bartending and managing a golf-club locker room while Rosie worked nights at a 3M factory, largely to help their only child chase his lofty ambitions.

As Rory became a fixture in professional golf, so, too, did his parents, especially Gerry, who was a smiling regular in Rory’s swelling galleries.

Earlier this month at Augusta National, though, Gerry and Rosie were nowhere to be found. As a victorious Rory walked from the 18th green to scoring on Sunday evening, tearfully embracing seemingly everyone in his path, his mother and father were nearly 4,000 miles away, back home in Northern Ireland.

And, from the sound of it, surrounded by boxes.

Rory said Wednesday that his parents missed his Grand Slam moment because they were moving houses.

“Which they said was a good thing,” Rory said on Michael Breed’s SiriusXM show. “They were glad they had something to do to take their mind off what was happening at the Masters.”

You know, parental stress and all.

When Rory did finally connect with Gerry and Rosie?

“Very emotional,” Rory said. “It was amazing to relive the week — and not just relive the week but the entire journey we’ve been on to get to this point.” He added, “Being an only child, I obviously have an extremely close bond with my parents, and to be able to share this with them was incredibly special.”

Among McIlroy’s close friends who was onsite at the Masters to celebrate with him was Shane Lowry, with whom McIlroy is defending at the Zurich this week. The good times will no doubt continue to roll in the Big Easy, but McIlroy and Lowry both know it’s also time to get back to work.

“Today is a pretty important day for me,” McIlroy said Wednesday after his pro-am round. “I need to start hitting some balls again and getting back into it.”

His motivation?

“Make sure that I don’t let this man down,” McIlroy said.