Sunday 29 December, 2024

Why did Rory McIlroy refuse to sign this kid's autograph?

The Open champ has come in for some awful stick.

FOOTAGE OF RORY McIlroy refusing to sign an autograph for a child immediately after his Open win yesterday spread like wildfire.

rory

It didn’t go down too well.

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Rory Mcilroy could've shown a bit of class and signed the lads autograph. #billybigtime
— Matt Lalor (@Matlalor) July 20, 2014

Matt lalor / Twitter

#RoryMcIlroy could have signed that kids autograph book the miserable bugger !!
— Rhys 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇪⚖️💉☠️ (@swparksey) July 20, 2014

Rhys Park / Twitter

McIlroy himself hasn’t addressed the incident on Twitter, but fellow golfer Ian Poulter has offered this explanation:

Just to clear up the signature thing. We are asked not to sign autographs until we have officially handed in our scorecards. #RulesAreRules
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) July 20, 2014

Ian Poulter / Twitter

And Poulter wasn’t the only one coming to Rory’s defence:

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I think those of us who haven't won a golf major and aren't sure of the rules re scorecards etc should lay off @McIlroyRory re autograph
— brendanbelfast (@brendanbelfast) July 20, 2014

brendanbelfast / Twitter

McIlroy meanwhile simply shared a snap of him celebrating:

Celebrating with the Claret Jug!! Thanks for all the support and well wishes this week! #TheOpen #3outof4 pic.twitter.com/9ZJsV62US0
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) July 20, 2014

Rory Mcilroy / Twitter

Read: McIlroy up to world number two after Open win>

From Holywood to Hoylake: The rise of Rory McIlroy>

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Emer McLysaght

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