Rumors have been swirling over the past month or so that Rory McIlroy is dating Irish model and singer Nadia Forde. While Forde denied that the two are romantically involved last month and said they had only met a few times, they have been spotted multiple times together as of late.

According to the Mirror, Forde and McIlroy were seen leaving a bar together in Dublin, Ireland last weekend. A witness spotted them “sitting together and laughing and joking all night.” What does that mean? Not a whole lot, because Forde still insists they are just friends.

“I met Rory last year through friends. He’s a lovely guy,” she told the Sunday People. “The bottom line with me and Rory is we have ­mutual friends who introduced us and we’ve been in each other’s company.”

Forde was then asked if McIlroy was her type, to which she replied, “I don’t really have a type, to be honest with you.” But even if she’s telling the truth about her and Rory just being pals, that doesn’t mean it won’t turn into more.

“I think whoever I end up with I will be friends with first,” Forde added. “The important thing is having ­somebody with ambition and drive who is hard-working. That for me is a massive turn-on.”

Ambition and drive? Check. Rory is a 25-year-old professional golfer who has a nine-figure endorsement deal with Nike. Hard-working? Well, now that he has broken things off with Caroline Wozniacki, no one can argue that McIlroy is spending too much time with the Danish tennis star and not enough on the course.

After he was spotted out with Forde, McIlroy went out and set a course record at Royal Aberdeen with an opening round 64 at the Scottish Open. He also smashed a 436-yard drive that day. He shot a 78 in the second round and kind of played himself out of contention, but you get the point. Rory is starting to look a lot better on the course. His new “friend” must be good luck.

Photos: Instagram/Nadia Forde