Rory McIlroy Facts: 40 Things To Know About The European Golf Legend

Rory McIlroy is one of those rare talents that transcends golf. Once viewed as the natural successor to Tiger Woods, the Northern Irishman is arguably the greatest player of his generation and the second-biggest name in the sport behind Woods.

McIlroy has won everything there is to win in the game barring The Masters, which has so far eluded him in a career that includes four Majors, multiple FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai titles, Ryder Cup wins and over 100 weeks as World No.1.

Get to know Rory McIlroy's life and incredible career so far better with these 40 facts...

Rory McIlroy facts:

1. McIlroy is from Holywood, Northern Ireland, near Belfast.

2. As a result he grew up playing Holywood Golf Club.

3. He named his first dog after Ernie Els, calling it Theo (Els' first name).

4. His father Gerry was a scratch handicapper and he got Rory into the game of golf at a young age. 

5. His first coach was Michael Bannon who, incredibly, still coaches him 20+ years later. Rory has often consulted other coaches like Pete Cowen for example, but always returns to Bannon. 

6. He won the under-10s world championship at Doral in Miami at the age of nine.

7. Also aged nine, he appeared on TV chipping golf balls into a washing machine.

8. Reportedly McIlroy made his first hole-in-one at the age of 10.

9. He left school aged 16 to concentrate on golf, with his parents taking up extra part-time jobs to fund his dream.

10. At the age of 17, he was the number-one-ranked amateur in the world for a week.

11. He made the cut in the 2007 Dubai Desert Classic as a 17-year-old and would have won almost €8,000 had he not been an amateur.

12. At the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie, McIlroy won the Silver Medal as leading amateur.

13. McIlroy earned his European Tour card in just two starts, the fastest in history.

14. He won his first professional title at the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic in the UAE, a country where he lived for four years during the early part of his career. He has now won the Dubai Desert Classic four times and the DP World Tour Championship three times.

15. He shot a course record 62 to win his first PGA Tour event at the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship, where he finished with six consecutive birdies to become the first player since Tiger Woods to win on the PGA Tour before his 21st birthday. He has gone on to win at Quail Hollow a further three times.

16. He supports Manchester United and is also an Ulster Rugby fan. He has also been spotted attending tennis majors.

17. He lost a four stroke lead in the final round of the 2011 Masters before going on to win his maiden Major at the US Open just two months later by eight strokes. He set a number of records that week at Congressional CC, including the lowest ever US Open score of 268 as he became the youngest champion since Bobby Jones in 1932.

18. He also won his second Major by eight strokes, coming at Kiawah Island in the 2012 PGA Championship. He beat Jack Nicklaus' seven-stroke winning margin set in 1980.

19. Earlier in 2012, he won his third PGA Tour title at the Honda Classic to become World No.1 for the first time. He has held the position for over 100 weeks.

20. He won his third Major at the 2014 Open, where his dad won £100,000 after placing a bet on him to lift the Claret Jug while Rory was a child. McIlroy joined Tiger Woods as the only player to win the Silver medal and Claret Jug.

20. Just a month later he won his fourth Major at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. He joined Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only men to have won four Majors by the age of 25. He has not won a Major since.

21. He injured himself playing football in the summer of 2015 and subsequently missed the chance to defend his Open Championship title at St Andrews.

22. He was engaged to tennis star Caroline Wozniaki but the pair broke up in 2014.

23. McIlroy currently lives at The Bear's Club in Jupiter, Florida, a private golf community that is owned by Jack Nicklaus.

24. He is a member of 18 golf clubs including the Bear's Club, Queenwood and Ohoopee Match Club. His favorite membership is The R&A.

25. He received an MBE in 2012 for his services to sport.

26. He has been named RTE Sports Person of the Year twice, in 2011 and 2014.

27. He became the youngest man to earn €10m on the European Tour and $10m on the PGA Tour.

28. His caddie Harry Diamond is his childhood best friend and the best man at his wedding. The pair teamed up in 2017 after McIlroy broke off his eight-year partnership with JP Fitzgerald, who he won all four of his Majors with.

29. He identifies as Irish, Northern Irish and British.

30. He got married to former PGA of America employee Erica Stoll in 2017 in County Mayo, Ireland. They famously met while he was running late for his tee time on the final day of the 2012 Ryder Cup. They have one child together, a daughter named Poppy.

31. He was one of only two sportsmen to make The Times Rich List in 2020 - the other was Lewis Hamilton.

32. He plays TaylorMade equipment, having previously been with Titleist and Nike. With TaylorMade, he also has his own line of junior golf clubs.

33. McIlroy has made two holes-in-one during tournaments, at the 2015 Abu Dhabi Championship and 2022 Travelers Championship.

34. He has won the Race to Dubai six times, matching Seve Ballesteros' total of six European Tour Order of Merits.

35. He is the only golfer to have won the FedEx Cup three times.

36. He is an investor in a number of companies including Whoop, TMRW Sports, GolfPass and the Alpine F1 team.

37. In 2019 at the age of 30 years, six months and eight days, McIlroy beat Tiger Woods’ record by around four months to become the youngest player to spend 500 weeks inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

38. He is the only golfer in history to have won The Open, the Irish Open and the Scottish Open.

39. In 2021, he became the first player from outside of the United States to serve on the PGA Tour policy board.

40. He is the 8th-highest points scorer in European Ryder Cup history with 18. He is currently 10.5 points behind Sergio Garcia in 1st and seven behind Sir Nick Faldo in 2nd.

Rory McIlroy wins

Rory McIlroy driving distance

Rory McIlroy is one of the very longest hitters in the men's game and produced the longest-hitting season in PGA Tour history with an average of 326.3 yards in 2023. He averaged 320.2 yards in 2024 as well as 321.3 yards in 2022.

He has averaged over 300 yards every season he has been on the PGA Tour. 

He averages 186mph ball speed on his drives with a clubhead speed average of 123.6mph.

Rory McIlroy's longest drive

Rory McIlroy's longest recorded drive came at the 2023 Scottish Open, where he hit a 428 yard tee shot (recorded as 427 at the time) on the 8th hole at the Renaissance Club in the final round.

Rory McIlroy career earnings

Rory McIlroy's net worth was estimated to be $220m back in 2020 by the Sunday Times. He has earned over $90m on the PGA Tour, although that doesn't include his three FedEx Cup wins (totalling $35m in bonus money) and his results in the PGA Tour's Player Impact Program - he won $15m in 2023, $12m in 2021 and $3.5m in 2020.

He also has earnings of €60m on the DP World Tour.

Rory McIlroy's wife

Rory McIlroy's wife is Erica Stoll. The pair met in 2012 and got married in 2017. They have a daughter, Poppy, who was born in 2020.

Stoll is from Buffalo, New York and met Rory via her work with the PGA of America. Famously, she helped organize his police escort to Medinah Country Club in Chicago in order for him to make his singles tee time vs Keegan Bradley.

The couple tied the knot five years later at Ashford Castle in Ireland.

They briefly filed for divorce in 2024 before calling it off after their differences were "resolved".

Rory McIlroy swing