On Sunday evening, as the London 2012 Olympics were coming to a close in his native UK, golfer Rory McIlroy was on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, winning his second career major tournament at the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Championship held there over the weekend. McIlroy’s unofficial “Gold” takes the form of a silver trophy, adding golfing triumph to the record number of wins that UK athletes have notched up over the last two weeks.
The PGA Championship is one of the four main US golfing championships held each year. By winning it, McIlroy, who hails from Holywood, Northern Ireland, becomes the first Northern Irish player to win two major titles. Better yet, he achieved it in spectacular fashion, winning by a record eight strokes. At the age of 23, record wins are already becoming a habit for McIlroy. Just last year he shattered the scoring record at the US Open, winning by eight strokes then, as well, and in the process breaking the record set by American Jack Nicklaus for margin of victory in a PGA Championship.
McIlroy grew up playing golf, and has been winning championships since the age of ten. The Northern Irish are no strangers to the sport, either. Over the past three years, Northern Irish golfers have won the title in four out of 12 major US golf tournaments, thanks to McIlroy’s wins, as well as equally impressive performances from Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell. Earlier this summer, Northern Ireland hosted the Irish Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim.
The UK and US share a passion for golf, with Brits playing across the US – both professionally and recreationally. Americans often frequent Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK to take in the beautiful courses. In addition to McIlroy’s recent success, the PGA named British golfer Luke Donald the 2011 Player of the Year.
It is hard to ignore the fact that golf is a way of life in Northern Ireland. I have been travelling there back and forth my entire life, visiting my mother’s side of the family. On a recent trip back in May I noticed that McIlroy, Clarke and McDowell had made quite an impression. Posters of the three winning golfers adorned shopping centres and public areas in Belfast as part of the NI 2012 campaign. I also was sure to pick up a postcard of the three, adorned with the words “Northern Ireland: The Home of Champions.”
The postcard is right. Within the last fortnight, Northern Ireland has enjoyed unprecedented sporting success, taking home a record five medals from the London 2012 Olympic Games (two for athletes representing Team Ireland, and three for athletes representing Team GB). These tremendous athletes break Northern Ireland’s previous record of three medals, set at the 1956 Games in Melbourne. In sport, as in so much else, Northern Ireland is on the move.