Rory McIlroy will be aiming his fifth major and a third US PGA Championship this week, but private concerns away from the course may distract him.
Rory McIlroy enters the second major of the year with a lot of buzz surrounding him off the course.
The PGA Championship, which he won twice before in 2012 and 2014, including at Valhalla, starts on Thursday. McIlroy enters the major in top form, having won the Zurich Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship in recent weeks.
However, as McIlroy arrived at the site on Tuesday, news surfaced that he had filed for divorce from his wife of seven years, Erica Stoll. His communications team soon verified this in a brief statement, stating that the Ulsterman will make no further remark on the topic.
That rule was reinforced at his news appearance on Thursday, as he sat down to chat with reporters without his wedding ring. McIlroy’s weariness became apparent as he declared himself ready to compete on a personal level.
Body language, expect Judi James has examined McIlroy’s response as well as the remainder of the news conference to identify some crucial body language cues.
“McIlroy does not use the press question ‘On a personal level, how are you doing?’ as his Meghan Markle moment,” James tells Mirror Sport. “Meghan may have wept emotionally over this one, but Rory goes into lockdown mode. Despite his fatigued looks, he is displaying five body language signs that demonstrate his determination and tenacity.
“His abrupt response, ‘I’m ready to play this week,’ comes after a forceful hard breath in through his nostrils. He shakes his head and shoulders, as if shaking off the drama, and responds with a steady and challenging eye-gaze. He executes a mouth clamp to signal’subject closed,’ and three nods affirm his readiness.
“Throughout the rest of the interview, he appears more evasive at times, fumbling with the microphone, looking down with an eye cut-off when he is introduced, and scratching his face before queries about confidence. He claims he has ‘A lot of confidence…’ but tempers the concept of momentum with ‘quite a bit…’ as his shoulders drop to the right. When he says he has confidence, he falters and repeats himself, and his one shoulder shrug shows he is trying to make it light.
“When asked about playing his way into shape, he appears less confident. He pauses with an eye cut-off gesture and sucks his lips in, then forgets the second portion of the inquiry.
“McIlroy does talk about ‘learning a lot by just playing,’ and his planned rituals suggest that it’s out on the course that his emotional resilience may shine. When he tells the press, ‘I feel fantastic,’ he does a physical reboot, narrowing his eyes to indicate concentrate, shaking his head, wriggling his shoulders, and smacking his lips together.
