Timothy M. Gay writes that four-time major champion Rory McIlroy is "golf's ageless Opie Taylor," a superstar whose charm transcends national boundaries and enlivens the game. His swing is so powerful that Tiger Woods is teaching his own son to mimic Rory's action.
But a charismatic persona and a pretty swing don't translate into winning championships. Rory has failed to win another major and fallen short of achieving the career Grand Slam.
He's become a lightning rod, getting into a smackdown at the '23 Ryder Cup and, after his betrayal by PGA Tour brass, causing confusion by going from an impassioned opponent of a deal with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf to an outspoken proponent.
McIlroy is from Northern Ireland, a geopolitical anomaly where religion and patriotism have been used as bloody cudgels. Both sides of his family were battered by the North's sectarian Troubles.
Rory is a man essentially without a country, which might explain why he's become so obsessed with the Ryder Cup. Gay argues that McIlroy has invented his own fiefdom, which the author has dubbed "RORY LAND."
Rory Land tells the saga of a compassionate superstar living in a world where "money has no conscience."
