​Editorial: Rory McIlroy is both a golfing superstar and Northern Ireland’s greatest ever sports person

​Rory McIlroy is now indisputably the most successful sports person in the history of Northern Ireland.

​This is not light praise, given the province's long list of sporting greats – not least in golf: from Fred Daly, who won the Open in 1947, to the major winners Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell.

Rory is not our only sporting genius – George Best was one of the most talented men ever to play football, and will always be loved here in his home country, but Best’s personal struggles stopped him reaching the highest heights.

There are other Ulster sporting giants such as the footballers Harry Gregg, Pat Jennings and Norman Whiteside; the Olympic gold athlete Mary Peters; the brilliant jockey AP McCoy; the snooker world champs Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor; the rugby stars Willie John McBride, Jack Kyle and Mike Gibson; the bikers Joey Dunlop and Jonathan Rea; the formula one racer Eddie Irvine; the Monte Carlo rally winner Paddy Hopkirk; the boxers Carl Frampton and Ulsterman Barry McGuigan, from just across the border; the emerging NI Olympians who won gold in 2024, including Rhys McClenaghan.

But last year Rory became one of only four men in the last 70 years to win golf’s grand slam – all four of the major titles. He reached a select quartet in one of the most prestigious individual sports ever invented. Then, on Sunday, he became part of another ultra-exclusive group of four – those golfers who have won the coveted Masters tournament back-to-back.

At the core of Rory’s astonishing story is his endurance – he won his first major title aged 22 and another the next year, yet had difficult periods too, but persisted in refining his game so that he is still collecting majors in his late 30s.

Rory McIlroy is perhaps Northern Ireland’s pre-eminent global ambassador and an inspiration to young people everywhere – of the extraordinary rewards that flow from total dedication.