Larry Brown Sports

Rory McIlroy’s caddie for the Par 3 Contest at the Masters Wednesday was richer, more athletic, more famous, and probably more attractive than anyone else’s. Yes, McIlroy had his girlfriend, tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, caddie for him at the Par 3 Contest.

“I had a good deal with Rory and get a really good pay check out of this,” Wozniacki joked to ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi. “I even gave him a special price.”

“It’s very special,” McIlroy said of having his girlfriend caddie for him. “Caroline had the opportunity to come [last year] but it didn’t quite work out in the end. I wanted her to come to Augusta and come to the Masters to see what it’s all about. It’s great that she’s here this week. It makes this afternoon special that she can be out here with me.”

Wozniacki drew comparisons between the Masters and Wimbledon, which is recognized as tennis’ most prestigious tournament.

“Obviously this is a very special tournament,” she said. “It has so many traditions. In many ways it’s similar to Wimbledon, but in many ways it’s also different.

“Hopefully he won’t give me too many looks for wrong clubs,” Wozniacki joked.

Funny to think that only a month ago people were wondering if the two were having relationship problems all because they hadn’t tweeted each other in a while. That all looks silly now. If there are any appearances of a rocky relationship, it’s probably because McIlroy and Wozniacki are both professional athletes who are constantly traveling and have little free time. They seem to be doing quite well to us. Of course, we liked it more when McIlroy’s ex-girlfriend Holly Sweeney caddied for him, but we’ll settle for Caroline.

Wozniacki later tweeted about the experience.

Had a blast being @mcilroyrory ‘s caddie today! Glad I am not wearing the boiler suit any time soon again tho! #toohot

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) April 10, 2013

Rory McIlroy was one of the many people who fell for the Google Nose April Fools’ Day prank.

Google has become known for running hoaxes on April Fools’ Day. On Monday, they claimed to roll out a new program called “Google Nose.” A landing page was created — complete with the full Google look — and a YouTube video was made to introduce the product. The landing page even claimed the product was in BETA mode.

Google Nose claimed to allow users the ability to search for something and smell it using the Google Nose option. The promo video showed people sniffing their computer screens and mobile devices, making it look real.

So, did you fall for the Google Nose hoax? If so, you are not alone.

Anyone else been fooled today by google nose!? I’ve been sniffing my phone for the last 10 minutes and not smelling anything!! Haha idiot!

— Rory Mcilroy (@McIlroyRory) April 1, 2013

Don’t sweat it, Rory. A few years ago, Google got me by promising a new service that would allow one to unsend previously sent emails via Gmail. LBS also fell for an April Fools’ Day hoax from Mike Tyson today. Those Google rascals!

Rory McIlroy is no longer looking like the next Tiger Woods. Instead, Tiger Woods is looking like the next Tiger Woods. After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Monday, Woods has reclaimed the world No. 1 world ranking for the first time since Oct. 30, 2010.

Tiger passed McIlroy in the rankings with his third win of the young season. McIlroy texted his new Nike teammate to congratulate him on recapturing the spot, and Woods fired back with a friendly message for Rory after taking his spot.

Rory McIlroy says he got text from Tiger this morning telling him to “get my finger out of my ass & win this week.” #shellhoustonopen

— Jerome Solomon (@JeromeSolomon) March 26, 2013

With The Masters less than three weeks away, McIlroy would be wise to take Tiger’s advice. It was fun to speculate that Rory may be having relationship troubles that were causing his poor play, but that clearly is not true. Instead, it’s fair to wonder if the 23-year-old’s transition to Nike has not been as seamless and he tried to convince everyone it would be.

Like most great golfers, McIlroy and Woods each go through dominant stretches. Tiger appears to be in the middle of one right now, but he could really send shockwaves through the golf world with a win at Augusta. His driving still needs a lot of work, but Woods has been putting better than he ever has (thanks in part to Steve Stricker’s advice). McIlroy, on the other hand, hasn’t been doing anything right. He can continue to fly under the radar until The Masters, but if he struggles again people will really start talking. It’s time to take the finger out of the butt and focus.

With Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki both struggling in their respective sports as of late, speculation began building a couple weeks ago that the couple is going through a rough patch in their relationship. McIlroy put those rumors to rest before the WGC-Cadillac Championship, and it appeared the couple was back to being their corny selves earlier this week.

On Tuesday night, McIlroy and Wozniacki attended the player’s party before the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. As you can see from the photo above that she posted on Twitter, Woz decided to dress as her better half for the event. The wig she wore made the couple look eerily similar.

How perfect. Wozniacki loves breaking out impersonations of people (see: Williams, Serena) and Wozilroy is all about posing for corny pictures together. What better way to reassure the world that their relationship is just rosie than to dress exactly alike and make themselves look like brother and sister? Thank goodness all is well.

H/T Game On!

Rory McIlroy has yet to hit his stride this season, which has left us all searching for explanations for his sub-par play. What could be wrong with the 23-year-old? The most logical answer would be that he is having trouble adjusting to his new Nike clubs and equipment, but not everyone is a logical thinker.

Considering we live in an era that is driven by gossip, many people have been quick to assume that McIlroy is having issues in his personal life. More specifically, there have been rumors that he and girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki are on the rocks.

McIlroy put the speculation of romantic problems to rest at a press conference ahead of the WGC-Cadillac Championship this week.

“I know I’ve read what’s been written,” McIlroy said, via USA Today Sports. “And like just because I have a bad day on the golf course and Caroline loses a match in Malaysia, it doesn’t mean that we’re breaking up. It’s sport, and look, I’d rather keep my private life as private as possible. Everything on that front is great and I’m looking forward to seeing her next week when she gets to Miami.”

Of course, the rumors about McIlroy and Wozniacki having relationship problems were completely baseless. In its gossip report, The Independent cited reasons such as Wozniacki and McIlroy both playing poorly. The site also pointed to the fact that the duo has not tweeted at each other much lately.

Seriously? This is what we have come to? If the world has gotten to a point where we can automatically speculate that two people have broken up because they have not tweeted at each other, we’re in trouble. Even if you don’t believe that McIlroy withdrew from the Honda Classic because of tooth pain, that doesn’t necessarily mean he is having problems at home. When the world’s top golfer switches tools, there might be an adjustment period. That certainly seems more likely than poor play as a result of fighting with your girlfriend.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Rory McIlroy may only be 23 years old, but the kid from Northern Ireland is already on top of the world. He recently signed a deal with Nike that is worth more than $200 million and is widely considered to be the best golfer on the planet. However, 23-year-old golfers have some problems that veterans like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson likely do not have to deal with.

After getting off to a 7-over par start through nine holes of his round at the Honda Classic on Friday, McIlroy walked off the course. The reason? His wisdom tooth was bothering him.

“I sincerely apologize,” McIlroy said in a statement. “I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future. It began bothering me again last night, so I relieved it with Advil. It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners. I came here with every intention of defending my Honda Classic title. Even though my results haven’t revealed it, I really felt like I was rounding a corner. This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year and I regret having to make the decision to withdraw, but it was one I had to make.”

As much as I hate to do this, I feel it’s appropriate: #YoungPeopleProblems.

I had all of my wisdom teeth taken out when I was about 17, so I can relate to how much pain they can cause when they need to be removed. The bizarre part about the whole thing with McIlroy is that he gave reporters a very vague answer when he walked to the parking lot after calling it quits.

“I’m not in a great place mentally,” he said. “I can’t really say much, guys. I’m just in a bad place mentally.”

PGA rules allow a player to leave with an injury, so I’m not sure why McIlroy felt he couldn’t tell reporters his reason for withdrawing at that moment. In any event, Rory’s injury serves as a friendly reminder that weird injuries like the ones on our ever-growing list can even happen outside the baseball diamond.

Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

If Tiger Woods and Nike have been a marketing machine that could not be stopped, imagine the possibilities now that Rory McIlroy has joined the team. The world’s No. 1 golfer is Nike’s newest addition, as McIlroy was officially introduced with the corporation on Monday (apparently that lawsuit from Oakley isn’t going to be an issue.)

For those of you who were wondering if this means Tiger is passing the torch to Rory, it doesn’t appear that will be the case just yet. Nike hit a home run with its first commercial starring the two stars, and as you can see it ended with Tiger coming out just slightly on top.

Imagine how much money Nike has made off of the Tiger Woods brand over the past decade-plus. The next five years will be even bigger.

Video via Eye on Golf