FEARS RAISED OVER RORY MCILROY'S HOMECOMING CELEBRATIONS IN NORTHERN IRELAND AFTER EMOTIONAL MASTERS TRIUMPH - FOR TWO MAIN REASONS

• Plans are already underway for a homecoming celebration after McIlroy's victory
• However, senior figures fear two factors could throw a spanner in the works
• Members at Holywood Golf Club celebrated as they watched him win the title 

Hopes for a heartwarming homecoming celebration for Rory McIlroy in Northern Ireland after his Masters success could be extinguished. 

Organisers have raised fears that the superstar, who now lives in a lavish Florida mansion, will either be too busy or not want the 'fanfare' of a grand party.

McIlroy ended 11 years of heartache on Sunday, picking up his first Major title in that time and completing a long-awaited Grand Slam.

After a year of turmoil off the grass, the 35-year-old beat Justin Rose in a playoff to claim the green jacket and $4.2million/£3.17m in prize money.

North Down and Ards Council are preparing for a possible homecoming event with his first club, Holywood Golf Club, where he began playing at the age of seven.

'We understand plans are already underway for a homecoming event organised by Holywood Golf Club. Ards and North Down Borough Council will be offering assistance to the club as needed to support this celebration,' a spokesperson told The Irish News.

But Tom Widley, general manager of Holywood Golf Club, said: 'I'm sure we will do something as a club to celebrate the win, we will definitely have some sort of party.

'But whether we will have a homecoming will depend on Rory.

'Certainly earlier in his career we would've, but now that he is based in the US, we will have to wait and see if he is available when he contacts us.

'I don't know if Rory would want any fanfare. When he comes here he very much just acts like any ordinary member of the club.'

Stars such as former WBA and lineal featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and 2024 Olympic pommel horse gold medallist Rhys McClenaghan have had fetes before.

Indeed, hundreds of fans greeted McIlroy for a homecoming in 2011 after he won the US Open. 

First Minister Michelle O'Neill wants a similar 'huge party' to mark McIlroy's achievement.

She said: 'I think we have to have the biggest party possible.

'I think we are so proud of what he has achieved, he speaks so loudly to all young people out there that if you have a dream that you can achieve it.

'If you look at Rory's journey over many, many years, all the setbacks and he kept going back at it and back at it.

'So, yes, we should have a huge party. I certainly will raise that with the sports minister (Gordon Lyons).'

She added: 'But I want to welcome him home in the best possible style we can to show him we are proud of what he has achieved.'

In winning the Masters, McIlroy became just the sixth man to complete golf's career Grand Slam of all four majors.

He was overcome with tears of joy as the reality dawned on him. McIlroy collapsed to the ground with his head in hands as his shoulders shuddered with sobs.

Rising to his feet, he clung to caddie, Harry Diamond, who has been by McIlroy's side through thick and thin for over seven years. The pair shared a tearful moment before the 2025 Masters winner acknowledged his dueling partner Rose and rushed off the putting surface to where his wife Erica Stoll and four-year-old Poppy were waiting 

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2025-04-15T16:23:49Z