If you have a big secret to keep, tell Rory McIlroy. It will be safe in that human lockbox.
Pretty much through the entirety of his wife’s pregnancy, McIlroy kept mum, only disclosing it near the end — at last week’s BMW Championship.
And it was only Thursday morning — three days after the fact — that McIlroy made public on social media that he and his wife, Erica, were happy, healthy parents of a baby girl named Poppy Kennedy McIlroy.
Who said it’s impossible to keep anything private anymore?
Having seen young Poppy into this world, McIlroy left south Florida for Atlanta on Thursday morning. He passed his COVID-19 test on site and was on the practice range that afternoon. “It was just hard to leave, really hard to leave,” McIlroy said. “But at the end of the day life doesn’t stop. Life moves on. I know that Erica is surrounded by her family, and my mom and dad are just around the corner, so she’s got all the help she needs. So, I felt a little more comfortable being able to go.”
McIlroy’s official social-media announcement read: “Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, born August 31st, 12:15pm. She is the absolute love of our lives. Mother and baby are doing great. Massive thank you to all the staff at Jupiter Medical Center and Dr Sasha Melendy for their amazing care.” That was three whole days later. If this golf thing doesn’t work out, the selectively tight-lipped McIlroy always can get a job with MI6.
McIlroy recently has played as if distracted, with no top-10 finishes in eight starts since the PGA Tour returned from its coronavirus shutdown. The defending FedEx Cup champion was prepared to skip this week’s tournament if little Poppy hadn’t made her appearance in time. But now freed by the birth of his first child, McIlroy is hoping his golf game gets happy, too.
“I think it’s been hard the last couple weeks because you’re sort of in limbo when she’s going to arrive,” he said. “And then in the back of your mind you’re hoping it’s going to go well. You hope that your daughter is safe. You hope that your wife is safe. There’s a lot of things that sort of run through your head. The fact that all that went well and everyone is good and recovering at home, I feel more comfortable now that I can come out here and play golf and maybe get my mind off it for four or five hours a day. That’s a nice thing.
“And then obviously I can get a couple of good night’s sleep before I go home.”
Starting at 3 under in the staggered scoring system - seven back of FedEx Cup points leader Dustin Johnson, McIlroy is scheduled to tee off at 1:30 p.m. Friday alongside former Georgia Bulldog Brendon Todd.
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