Rory McIlroy hasn’t been so keen to talk recently, but when an adorable young fan in a green jacket approached him, he had no choice but to.
The Northern Irishman was out on course at the RBC Canadian Open when he spotted the youngster in a unique look.
Crouching down to chat to the child in a Masters-style green jacket, McIlroy told him: “It took me a little longer to get one of those.”
McIlroy, a father himself, then gave the smiling fan a high five and posed for a picture with him.
The 36-year-old was of course referring to his very own green jacket, reserved for winners of The Masters – golf’s most prestigious major.
McIlroy won the tournament for the first time at Augusta on April 13, heading off Justin Rose in a play-off after victory appeared to have escaped him.
Instead, he got the deal done and broke down with emotion as an agonising wait for his very own green jacket had come to an end.
It had been 11 years since McIlroy won a major, so to break that drought at the only one of the four he hadn’t captured was the perfect story.
In fact – only six golfers have won the Grand Slam of all four majors, making McIlroy’s overdue success even more epic.
However, at his next major, the PGA Championship in May, he could only finish tied-47th and conducted a surprise media blackout during his time on course.
It now turns out it was over a leaked story about his non-conforming driver, with it later emerging that winner Scottie Scheffler suffered the same fate.
Explaining his media snub, McIlroy said in Canada: “I was a little p***** off because I knew that Scottie’s [Scheffler] driver had failed on Monday, but my name was the one that was leaked.
