Rory McIlroy’s true colors shown by sweet act after FedEx St Jude Championship round
Rory McIlroy carded a two-under-par opening round at the FedEx St Jude Championship on Thursday, but his day of sporting activity was not over after the golf was done
Rory McIlroy did not call it a day after carding a two-under-par opening round at the FedEx St Jude Championship on Thursday.
Despite the sweltering heat and humidity of TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, he chose to engage in a game of tennis. McIlroy was pictured holding a pair of rackets alongside Wiley Barron son of Champions Tour major champion Doug Barron at a nearby tennis center. The snapshot was shared across PGA Tour Champions’ social media channels.
McIlroy, 35, is an avid tennis enthusiast. During the Olympics, where he narrowly missed out on a medal, he and his wife Erica Stoll made a trip to Roland Garros to watch Spanish stars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz play a doubles match against Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.
“I got to my first event last night watching Rafa and Carlos play doubles,” McIlroy shared after his first round at Le Golf National. “I never watched Carlos play live in person before, which I was really excited for that. Excited for Rafa as well. That was really cool to see, and the atmosphere there was electric when they started to make that little fightback in the second set. That was cool to be a part of.”
McIlroy chose not to speak with reporters on Thursday after shooting a 68, featuring an eagle, two bogeys and a pair late birdies that placed him four strokes behind leader Chris Kirk. But before the tournament, the Northern Irishman declared he wanted to use the FedEx Cup Playoffs to “flip the script” on a frustrating campaign.
McIlroy’s season boasts three wins, including two on the PGA Tour, yet there were moments where it seemed he could have achieved even more, especially at the US Open in June when a two-shot lead escaped his grasp over the final five holes, handing Bryson DeChambeau the trophy.“I certainly don’t want to sit up here and belittle my achievements at all this year and what I’ve done, but at the same time, I expect a certain standard from myself,” he said. “Yeah, I’ve won a couple of times. I’ve had an opportunity to win a few more times than that and haven’t been able to get over the line. So I would have liked to have added a couple more to that win column.
“But there’s still three tournaments left in this PGA Tour season. I think I’ve actually got eight or nine tournaments left this year, but three on the PGA Tour, to turn an okay season into a very good one.”
“I think when the bulk of the season has come and gone and you’ve got this opportunity of three weeks to really, I guess, flip the script a little bit or change the narrative and what that season means, I think that’s a motivating factor, and part of the reason that I’ve probably played well in the playoffs for the last three years.”
