By Brian Keogh of Irish Golf Desk
When Rory McIlroy fronted up in Miami last year about his walk off in the Honda Classic, he said: “Everyone makes mistakes and I’m learning from them. Some people, I guess, have the pleasure of making mistakes in private. Most of my mistakes are in the public eye.”
Today at Wentworth, just a few hours after issuing a statement on his decision to break off his engagement with Caroline Wozniacki and cancel their planned November 8 wedding, he went ahead with his planned press conference and was, understandably, close to tears at times.
Living out your life in the public eye is not something most of us would relish. [“I don’t know about yourself, Brian,” I hear Rory say.] But we all know that while we’d love to be one of the best golfers on the planet and receive vast sums in exchange, having you private life analysed in public cannot be much fun.
McIlroy’s life, on and off the course, has been one of dramatic highs and lows and while today’s press conference at the BMW PGA Championship was clearly a painful experience, he deserves great credit for answering questions.
“Yeah, obviously quite a difficult time for Caroline and myself,” he said. “I think the statement really said it all this morning. It was mutual and amicable and we both thought it was the best for us… interest for both of us. Time to move on and I think I’ve said all that I need to say. I just want to get my head into golf this week and concentrate on the tournament and try and do well. I have been playing well, my form has been good and I just want to dive straight into it and keep myself somewhat busy and just try to have a good week on the course.”
