McIlroy’s belle putts ball in his court
McIlroy and the attractive Dane are one of the hottest young couples in sport after the world No 2 golfer and world No 1 tennis player enjoyed a chance meeting at a world heavyweight boxing bout earlier this year in Hamburg.
But it was only recently that McIlroy and Wozniacki got to spend some quality time together on the white sand beaches of the Maldives, ahead of McIlroy heading to Hainan Island for the World Cup of Golf.
It was in Dubai where McIlroy arranged for Wozinacki to have her very first golf lesson, with one of the pros at the Els Cub.
“I took her for a lesson with a good friend of mine who is one of the pros at the Els Club,” he said.
“I would be hopeless at teaching someone to play golf and it’s hard to explain because golf is just so natural for me.
“At the end of the lesson she was hitting 7 irons about 140 yards. Being a tennis player her upper body is pretty strong but she’s struggling a bit because she is always hanging back on her right side, as they do in tennis.
“When she can learn to shift her weight to the left side, she’s going to be so much better. So for the time being she has more potential at golf than I do at tennis.
“The thing is that when I play tennis the competitive side in me comes to the fore and I want to play well every time but it just doesn’t happen. I would get more frustrated because I want to be able to grasp tennis straight away.”
However, a smiling McIlroy added: “Improving my tennis game is not the reason we spend time together. I will let her focus on the tennis and I will stick with golf.”
However, the books in McIlroy’s possession at present do not focus on the likes of Nicklaus, Hogan or Palmer but Rafa Nadal and Andre Agassi, two of the best to ever grace a tennis court.
And in reading their autobiographies, along with discussing similar issues with Wozniacki and her own mental make-up, McIlroy is in many ways strengthening his own mind ahead of dealing with the hurdles he will continue to face in golf.
“When Caroline and I might discuss our own sport, I am very interested in how she prepares herself for the mental side of big tennis tournaments like how she goes about setting goals or whatever,” he said.
“That sort of discussion gives me a good insight into how she deals with similar issues I might face.
“Rafa Nadal’s book was a pretty good insight into his mindset. You look at Nadal and you think he’s unbreakable but in reading his book you see how mentally fragile he feels he still is yet he’s already won 10 Grand Slam titles.”
But while the affection between McIlroy and Wozniacki is very much in its infancy stage, McIlroy increasingly finds himself very much the affection of golf fans half his age.
“I’ve realised that this year more than any other year I am becoming more of a role model to children and I am striving to get better at embracing that responsibility,” said McIlroy.
“It is a role that is quite important to me. I want to try and set a good example because I feel as though I had a couple of pretty good role models growing up.
“I understand what impact I can have on young children and what they think about me and the game of golf.
“But it’s very nice for kids to come up to me and say ‘you’re my role model’ and that ‘you’re my favourite golfer’ and that’s great.
“In travelling to places like Haiti, as I did earlier this year, and then to Japan for the Earthquake and Tsunami Appeal, it puts everything into perspective. I am very fortunate that a lot of people know me all over the world, and to have this status is an honour, a privilege and something I respect.
“Sometimes I might think that it would be nice to disappear to some place for a few weeks where no one knows me but that’s my style.
“It’s funny because sometimes I will sit back and feel a bit guilty because I don’t feel I have worked that hard for what I now possess in life. But my feet are planted firmly on the ground and I’m not at the level where I am flying all over the world in a private jet.
“I’ve sold the few cars I owned ... I have invested in a few properties but nothing too outrageous and I’ve invested money in my golf game by building my own practice facility back home.
“So what I have invested in is my career.
“Also I owe my mum and dad so much for what they gave up for me when I was travelling all over the world to play before I had reached 18.”
McIlroy arrived in Hong Kong last night after a yet another profile-building endeavour when he joined Japanese heart-throb Ryo Ishikawa in a Yokohama charity match in aid of the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Appeal.
