Double major winning Rory McIlroy confessed he doesn’t want to see the inside of a lawyer’s office ever again.
McIlroy has returned to competition for this week’s defence of the European Tour season-ending DP World Tour Championship at the Jumeriah Estates course in Dubai.
The tournament was his last victory when he birdied the closing five holes to defeat England’s Justin Rose and end the season as both the European No. 1 and PGA Tour No. 1.
Rory McIlroy says he’s seen the inside of too many lawyer’s offices this year. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)
However in the intervening 12 months McIlroy’s off-course life has been the subject of many news headlines including the break-up of his relationship with former World No. 1 tennis star, Caroline Wozniacki and more recently legal wrangles.
McIlroy’s newly-former Rory McIlroy Incorporated is suing his former management company, Horizon Sports Management and with the matter to be next heard in the Dublin High Court later next year, and in the weeks following the Ryder Cup.
And in a strange twist McIlroy will now need to rely on the credibility of his former Horizon Sports agent, Conor Ridge, in a case being taken against McIlroy in a California court by former sponsor, Oakley.
Oakley is suing both McIlroy and Nike Golf after Oakley claimed McIlroy had an agreement with the eyewear manufacturer that gave the company first right refusal over any new deal with the former US Open and PGA Championship winner.
Oakley is seeking documents from McIlroy limnked to his relationship with Horizon Sports.
“I’ve seen more lawyers offices and more lawyers this year than I care to see in my entire life,” said McIlroy.
“It’s not something I ever want to go through again, and I’m making sure that I won’t go through it again.
“As a golfer, you want your mind as clear as possible, and it’s hard for that to happen when you’ve got other things that are going on that, firstly, you don’t want to happen, and secondly you don’t feel should be happening.
“It has been a distraction and I haven’t had to deal with it as much as some of the guys around me.
“But it’s something that I obviously not wanted to have in my life.”
McIlroy’s appearance this week in Dubai is his third last event of the season. He will contest next fortnight’s Australian Open in Sydney and then head straight to Los Angeles for the following week’s Tiger Woods hosted World Challenge at Thousand Oaks.
And after a year when McIlroy has gone from No. 1 in the world to his current No. 6 world ranking, he confessed he now understands more have Woods handles his off-course affairs.
“Sometimes you have to say ‘no’ and sometimes you have to put yourself first and say ‘no’, and I need to do this for myself to maintain the level in my game,” said McIlroy.
“It’s something Tiger actually said to me last year. He said, you have to remember what got you here in the first place, and you know Tiger, it’s ‘No’ 99 per cent of the time for him, then that’s great.”
