Rory reveals how he nearly turned his back on golf

Triple Major champion Rory McIlroy has revealed that as a youngster he almost quit the game, but put it down to being a ‘grumpy teenager.’

It was 2006 and the Holywood man was being driven home by his father after beating Louth’s Simon Ward in a play-off to win the Mullingar Scratch Cup.

McIlroy was only 17 then and just over a year away from turning professional. But on his first day back to competitive golf since winning the British Open at Royal Liverpool he was asked if he ever experienced a ‘crisis of faith’ in his career that could have forced him to quit the game.