Rory McIlroy has won the last three PGA events that he participated in. He was victorious in the year's final two majors (British Open and PGA Championship) and became only the fourth player to win four majors before the age of 25. Was his ex-fiancé, Caroline Wozniacki, holding him back?
McIlroy vaguely hinted at such a possibility after the third round of the PGA Championship this past Saturday. The No. 1 golfer in the world was asked what has attributed to his recent success, and it's only timely to assume his breakup with Caroline Wozniacki has played a role. The two were dating since 2011 before McIlroy called off their engagement this past May.
"I think what happened has been for the better in terms of my golf. I've put a bit more time into it and it has refocused me. I mean, what else do I have to do now? I go to the golf course, I go to the gym and it's just my life at the minute," said McIlroy in this ESPN UK article. "I worked pretty hard before but the past couple of months I've really just buried myself in my game. It obviously works pretty well, so I am going to keep doing it."
Rory simply now has more time for Rory. He responded in the best way possible when asked about the breakup, telling reporters that his focus is solely on golf, and many can tell based on his recent and historic success. During the 2013 season leading up to his engagement with Wozniacki, McIlroy didn't win a single event on the PGA Tour, and delivered poor performances in three out of the four majors, including a 25th place finish at the Masters (+2), a 41st place finish at the U.S. Open (+14), and missing the cut at the British Open.
But 2014 has been a different story for Rory. During the 2013-2014 PGA season, McIlroy has participated in 13 events and earned nearly $7 million. He has three first place finishes at the year's final two majors and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, along with six other top-ten finishes at the WGC-HSBC Championship (T-6), the Honda Classic (T-2), the Houston Open (T-7), the Masters (T-8), the Wells Fargo Championship (T-8), and the Players Championship (T-6).
And not to mention, McIlroy's confidence is probably through the roof if he has women looking at him like this:
You can read more about Rory McIlroy's breakup with Caroline Wozniacki in this USA Today Sports article.
