Rory – The Heartache and Triumph of Golf’s Most Human Superstar By Alan Shipnuck (Avid Reader Press, $32.50)

Can next year really be 20 years since Rory McIlroy turned pro? And will this June mark 15 years since his first major win at the 2011 U.S. Open? Apparently so on both counts. The Northern Ireland native has won 45 times, including five majors, and last year became just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam. Yet he’s still only 36 years old! He’s had a rich golf life already, one now chronicled by Alan Shipnuck in “Rory – The Heartache and Triumph of Golf’s Most Human Superstar.”

You would think with all of those wins, triumph would easily come before heartache. But in Shipnuck’s telling, Rory has endured almost as much of the latter as the former, in large part due to self-infl icted wounds, especially at Augusta National GC over many Aprils. As the author writes, “McIlroy always wanted to be the next Tiger Woods, but turns out he’s more like Phil Mickelson — wildly unpredictable and always entertaining.”

Despite not speaking directly with McIlroy for the book — Shipnuck quotes McIlroy’s agent, Sean O’Flaherty, as stating, “If it’s not our book, there’s not much incentive for Rory to participate” — there’s plenty of material to paint a compelling picture: from the selfless support from his hardworking parents to an insatiable desire to join the legends of the game. Then there’s the dizzying twists of his playing record.

Recall the 2011 Masters, where he blew a 4-stroke final-round lead. Two months later he wins the U.S. Open. He misses the cut at the 2012 U.S. Open, then captures the PGA Championship that same year. Tied for the lead going into the final round of the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews before finishing third. Then he wins the Race to Dubai (for a fourth time) later that year. The painful 2024 U.S. Open loss by a single stroke to Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst, followed by his career Grand Slam-clinching Masters win, in sudden death of course, less than a year later. Whew.

Shipnuck details the relationship dramas, a caddie switch, a complete reversal on the the Ryder Cup, agent breakups and Rory’s vocal opinions on the morass that is LIV Golf. The years fly by. The next chapter for McIlroy? More wins, for sure. Additional majors? Maybe. Maybe not. But in Shipnuck’s estimation, the kid from Northern Ireland will likely remain a source of fascination for years to come. “For all the controversies and crushing disappointments, McIlroy just keeps marching forward, giving us one unforgettable moment after another. He was once a boy wonder, openly dreaming about changing golf history. The journey has been more fraught than he ever could have imagined. But a prodigy who never falters doesn’t make for a good tale. McIlroy has grown into something more interesting: a man in full.”