I watched a bit of the Masters Tournament this past weekend...yesterday Rory McIlroy managed to pull off a sudden death victory over Justin Rose to win his first Masters, completing what the golf world calls the "Grand Slam" of victories in all of the pro sport's major tourneys. Congratulations, dude. The sports announcers were all full of sympathy and concern about McIlroy's failures in the past to get this one last tournament title, and wasn't it great that he finally pulled it off. Rory, who has been coddled and guided since early childhood when he was discovered to have an aptitude for the game, has of course long been a very rich multimillionaire with worldwide name and face recognition. So no, I'm not on board with the emotions spilled out on his behalf. On the other hand, the social media seemed overly concerned about his relationship with his wife and her degree of support after the tournament...really, as if that's anybody's business. Yet unlike with other sports, in professional golf you're expected to make a big show of being with your spouse and kids after knocking down the ball on the last hole. I'm okay with everyone coming together at the end, sure, but this does sort of open up the athletes' private lives to unwelcome media scrutiny. I've known a kid who grew up in a family where his own father was a coach in a certain sport, and he was groomed from early on to become a star player in it. Everyone around sucked up to this kid for being such a big-shot player and he gained a lot of popularity...and I think it all went straight to his head. I hope he's enjoyed a good life since leaving his "glory days" behind at my high school, but like McIlroy, if I hear of him having done well in that sport since then, there's really nothing for me to say beyond those simple congratulations...
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