UK Press Concerned Over Rory-Tiger Goodwill Potentially Squelching Ryder Cup Antics

Credit Matthew Norman for saying what needed to be said: this Tiger-Rory bromance must not strip the Ryder Cup of petty, childish, ego-fueled drama.

Did infantrymen on both sides endure the horrors of the War on the Shore in 1991, and the rancour occasioned by the Battle of Brookline eight years later, when the Americans invaded of the green while current European captain José María Olazábal stood over a crucial putt, so that their successors would compete in love and peace?

Golf, as all fans of PG Wodehouse’s Oldest Member stories appreciate, is not the prissy, gentlemanly pursuit of Peter Alliss’s rose-tinted babblings.

It is a vicious, murderous battle of wills, and more than ever in this biennial challenge to intercontinental machismo, there must be a healthy dollop of spite bubbling beneath the mannerly surface.

For Sale: Rory's Home And Backyard Practice Area

Thanks to Irish Golf Nut for this Press Association story on Rory McIlroy posting a for sale sign on his Northern Ireland residence.

I believe, but am not sure, this is the home of his backyard practice area that he took the BBC on a tour of in 2011.

Michael Rodgers, a partner at Rodgers & Brown, the Holywood, Co Down, firm of estate agents which is handling the sale, said: "I would say interest in the house will be extremely good, both locally and potentially worldwide. We will have to wait and see."

The house, which is set in 14 acres, was built in 2006.

And there was this, which does seem pretty likely considering Lee Westwood's planned move...

The sale will heighten speculation that McIlroy will now seek to live abroad permanently, possibly Florida - especially after he caused public controversy in Northern Ireland and the Republic earlier this month when he indicated he would play golf for Team GB in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Rory Laughs Off Intimidation Factor; Devises A Much Better Answer To The Olympic Question

Jeff Babineau reports on Rory McIlroy's Tour Championship press conference Wednesday where the culturally unidentifiable lad laughed off Greg Norman's suggestion that Tiger is somehow intimidated by his presence.

To which McIlroy replied, “How can I intimidate Tiger Woods? I mean, the guy’s got 75 or 70-whatever (actually 74) PGA Tour wins, 14 majors … I mean, he’s been the biggest thing ever in our sport. How could some little 23-year-old from Northern Ireland with a few wins come up and intimidate him? It’s just not possible.”

And an unbylined Sky Sports story has this on the dreaded cultural identity question. Much better.

"It just hit home with me at how my success is welcomed by everyone. It would be terrible for me to nearly segregate myself from one of those group that supports me so much.

"It's four years away - I still have a bit of time to decide. But, I'm very, very appreciative and very grateful of the support that I get from everyone.

"It's great that I get so much support. There are not many people in my position that have to go through what I might have to go through in four years' time, but it is what it is.

"I'm a golfer first and foremost and I just want to play well on the golf course. Hopefully people enjoy that and the entertainment that that brings."

Tigeroy Bromance Update: Woods Makes Short Jokes, Rory Counters With Balding Remarks; Tickling Could Be Next

The Times' "Chief Sports Correspondent" Matt Dickinson scored some face time with World No. 1 Rory McIlroy who reveals how his bond with Tiger Woods has evolved.

McIlroy has embraced the rivalry, thrived on it, said his game improves by being paired against Woods. “It’s fun,” McIlroy says — a word you hear all too infrequently from leading athletes. And he recites the sort of conversation that takes place when world No 1 meets world No 2 on the tee; Woods calls McIlroy shorty and the Northern Irishman calls him baldy back.

“Tiger gives me stick about being short. He always asks me ‘seriously, how tall are you?’” McIlroy says.

“I’ll say, five nine”.

“Yeah, but without the hair? That’s five seven, right?” “He’ll ask me, ‘What do you do when Caroline [Wozniacki]wears heels?’ But I give him grief about all sorts. Getting old, getting bald. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, certainly not when I’m around.”

I believe Tiger would be referring to this infamous photo. A shame he didn't wait to pull that one out at the Ryder Cup!

Rory Does Fallon

Fallon: "You're the greatest golfer right now in the world, I would say."
McIlroy: "So would I," with a smile.

Then Fallon asked if he was from Northern Ireland and it sounded like we were going to get into the "cultural identity" mess, but thankfully Fallon hit the turn signal and kept it light.

Two More Reads On Rory's Dilemma

Ron Sirak puts Rory's "cultural identity" issue into perspective by comparing it to other athletics-meets-politics situations.

There are precious few athletes who have been able to link principle -- their private self -- with their profession  their public self. Jackie Robinson was thrust into it when he was selected to integrate baseball in 1947. Muhammad Ali chose it when he opposed the war in Vietnam War in the 1960s and was blacklisted from professional boxing for nearly four years.

Michael Jordan -- who famously refused to back a Democrat for governor of North Carolina in 1990 by saying "Republicans buy shoes, too," -- and Tiger Woods have chosen to keep their personal opinions far removed from their public self.

Eamon Lynch offers this take as a fellow Northern Irishman, suggesting he marry Caroline and play for Denmark in 2016.

Rory McIlroy and I grew up about 50 miles and 17 years apart, but the similarities between us really end with our Northern Irish provenance. He probably doesn't remember much at all of our country's violent conflict, whereas it was the defining event in my formative years. His inclination seems to be to accommodate differing faiths, mine is opposition to all. He loves Caroline Wozniacki, I think her brother is kind of cute. He can hit a towering 5-iron… well, you get the picture.

But perhaps there is one thing we both understand, though McIlroy can't ever say so publicly. The island of Ireland -- Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland -- has spent much of the past 200 years exporting three things: Guinness, its people and cheap nationalism. Guinness has ruined many an Irish sportsman, but it is the latter that causes most headaches for McIlroy.

"Rory is...on the brink of making a profoundly brave and inherently progressive political statement."

Conor Nagle posts a thoughtful analysis of Rory McIlroy's plight in light of history and comments made to the Daily Mail about which country the World No. 1 might represent if he qualifies for the 2016 Olympics.

In other words, in the wake of McIlroy's clarifying letter posted Monday, Nagle offers a pretty even-handed look at the minefield McIlroy must navigate.

He is part of the first generation to self-identify as Northern Irish (a trend touched upon in this recent feature) and, in demonstrating a willingness, however tentative, to chart a course independent of the ideologies that have determined life in the six counties for nigh-on a century, he’s emerged an improbable spokesperson for a nascent political, or “post-political”, identity.

Precariously balanced between two contrasting identities, McIlroy has repeatedly asserted his right to a third option: a Northern-ness that supersedes all else, of which being British is a logical consequence rather than a matter of faith.

Yes, he’s availed of opportunities afforded him as a teenager by the Golfing Union of Ireland, but the issue of national allegiance, when forced, will hardly be decided by so trivial a matter as junior funding.

Brian Keogh with extensive comments from Ireland's Des Smyth. The gist:

“I don’t see how we can lay claim to people from Northern Ireland,” said Smyth, a highly repected Irish player and one of Ian Woosnam’s Ryder Cup vice captains at the K Club in 2006. “They are part of the United Kingdom.

“Jimmy Heggarty was my travelling buddy on tour for many years. He was from Ulster, part of the United Kingdom and I never had a problem with that.

Rory appears to have been helped, at least temporarily, by Andy Murray's triumphant U.S. Open win. Still, the various UK papers reported on McIlory's letter in Tuesday's editions.

Kevin Garside in The Independent declared that McIlroy "should be celebrating the best form of his career" but "finds himself caught on the horns of an uncomfortable dilemma."

The Guardian's "staff and agencies" report suggested McIlroy's letter "hinted that he may choose to play for Great Britain" in Rio.

The Daily Mail says the Rory clarification letter was issued because McIlroy "suffered abuse from a significant number of his 1.25 million Twitter followers as well as criticism from established broadcasters on Irish TV."

In Ireland, Phillip Reid offers an interesting solution for McIlroy: take a pass on Rio 2016.

Give it a miss! Save yourself the trouble and strife of having to declare allegiance one way or another! Focus on the Majors; for, truly, they are the defining moments in any player’s career! Be yourself!

There. I’ve said it.

The pulling and dragging over McIlroy’s nationality or otherwise is most unseemly and something of an irrelevance given that virtually week-in and week-out he is playing very much as an individual.

If he were to bypass the Olympics, the kernel of this issue, it would certainly present an easier way out – and avoid the hassle – for the player, especially given the over-the-top response to the comment that he felt “more British than Irish”.