Family first with Rory McIlroy sympathy for great rival and accepts illness risks all part of life as a parent
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler stand as the game’s guiding lights but a sporting rivalry which has dominated the modern scene was set aside this week when family concerns took centre-stage.
McIlroy tackles the East Lake course this week in the Tour Championship with the target of increasing his record-breaking run as FedEx Cup champion, with Scheffler pre-tournament favourite to capture the current crown.
Scheffler’s path across the FedEx Cup play-off programme featured St Jude success in the opening event before BMW Championship struggles last week due to hand, foot and mouth disease which results in blisters affecting those areas on the body.
World number two McIlroy was asked about the illness for the only player ranked higher than the Northern Ireland legend, given both stand as fathers. McIlroy and wife Erica Stoll are parents to five-year-old daughter Poppy.
During Tuesday’s press conference McIlroy said: “I was getting lunch yesterday and the first person I saw that was putting food on his plate beside me was Scottie, so I was like: Are you okay? Are you fine? Are you feeling better?
"Kids bring stuff home from school, they bring stuff home from day care out here.
"I think anyone that's had children, it's a part of it. That's the only way that they're going to build up their own immunities.
"Unfortunately, the parents fall foul of that at times but that's part of life, you're going to get little viruses and little things that happen. But it obviously affected Scottie for the first couple days last week, but he seemed to play and feel a bit better at the weekend...hopefully he feels back 100 percent this week.”
Scheffler told the press at the start of the week he was feeling “good”.
"Good...I'd say I'm at like 95 percent,” said Scheffler. “The only thing maybe just still a couple of sores in my throat. But other than that, I feel really good."
At the end of the BWM Championship, Scheffler described “you get blisters on your hands and in your throat and on your feet...it was pretty painful to grip the club”.
Three-time FedEx Cup champion McIlroy opened his Tour Championship bid on Thursday with a 68 on Thursday to sit six off leader Min Woo Lee.
Friday’s second round finished in a 69 to put McIlroy tied 23rd on three under – seven behind joint leaders Ryan Gerard and Viktor Hovland before a Saturday third-round tee time of 5.31pm (UK time)