Rory McIlroy completed a historic run at the U.S. Open Sunday, shooting a final round 69 to become the youngest U.S. Open winner in 88 years. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland shot a 268 over the four rounds, beating the previous tournament total of 272. He joined the group of Curtis Strange, Lee Janzen, Tony Jacklin, and Lee Trevino as the only golfers to be under par all four rounds of the U.S. Open. McIlroy also became just the sixth golfer to win the tournament as the wire-to-wire champion (Tiger Woods accomplished the feat twice).
McIlroy’s win was special for several reasons besides the record-breaking fashion of the victory. In addition to Sunday becoming McIlroy’s first major win, he bounced back from his final-round collapse at the Masters in April. Moreover, he held on for his first major win on Father’s Day with his dad, Jerry McIlroy (pictured) in attendance. Sadly, Rory McIlroy’s girlfriend Holly Sweeney was not in attendance.
Sweeney is Rory’s childhood girlfriend and the two have had an on-and-off relationship, but they’re back on again. McIlroy’s people actually flew Holly into Augusta (see pictures of her here) anticipating a win at the Masters, but Rory ended up blowing his lead. Holly stayed at home for the U.S. Open but nervously watched Rory throughout the weekend. She capped his victory with a congratulatory tweet, saying “My fabulous boyfriend has played flawlessly all week! Drink up northern ireland he’s done us proud! Here’s to the sick days tomorrow WOOOOO.”
Her tweet was similar to the final words McIlroy said during an interview on NBC where he said he hoped the pints of Guinness would be flowing back home and that he couldn’t wait to get home and party with his friends. After his performance this weekend, he deserves too.
