Rory McIlroy proves his class in ‘beautiful coincidence’ after toddler’s brain injury

Rory McIlroy demonstrated once more that he possesses just as much grace away from the golf course as he does while playing by spending quality time with a three year old golf enthusiast at this month’s Irish Open after she generated more than $30,000 for charity.

County Down youngster Alex Chambers had been welcomed to the tournament after event officials discovered her golfing fundraising effort, which followed her experiencing a brain hemorrhage less than two years earlier. McIlroy ultimately claimed victory in the tournament after a thrilling final round. It comes as McIlroy revealed Team Europe’s unique preparations for the upcoming Ryder Cup.

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The previous year, after rigorous recovery and rehabilitation that left her in a coma, Chambers took on a mission to walk five miles to benefit Little Heroes charity, which provided support during her stay at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children (RVHSC).

This year, she chose to tackle a golfing challenge at her neighborhood Scrabo Golf Club, where she took her first shot before walking the distance of nine holes.

When the Irish Open discovered her remarkable fundraising effort, they extended an invitation to The K Club for this year’s tournament, which resulted in an enchanting unexpected meeting with none other than current Masters champion McIlroy, reports the Irish Star.

“I just turned and Rory McIlroy was walking towards me,” Chambers’ mom, Nadine, told The Irish News. “I just thought well, what a beautiful coincidence.”

Nadine explained that she and her daughter, who has become “a big golf fan”, were attempting to locate the kid zone at the event when one of the staff members allowed them to pass through the clubhouse. There, they ran into McIlroy, who Nadine said wound up providing them with a moment that was more “significant” to their family than the Holywood golfer could ever realize.

“When Rory met her, I said, ‘Alex, who have you been looking for?’ and she went, ‘Rory, I’ve been looking for you!’,” Ms Chambers said of her daughter, who had decided that they were “going to look for Rory” that day.

“I don’t think Rory quite knows what that meeting meant to us and what it meant to Alex. It was a really significant ending to such a good fundraiser.”

Someone who previously worked at Holywood Golf Club had provided the toddler and her mother with a replica of McIlroy’s driver head on the chance they would encounter him. When presented with it, he was more than willing to help out.

“I explained the story to him and he was happy to sign it,” Nadine said. “I had a kind of brief chat with him about what we were trying to do [with the fundraiser]. He was happy to have a chat with Alex and get a photo.”

As for little Alex herself, she managed to raise over £22,000 ($29,000) for Little Heroes through her golf fundraiser and sponsorships from local businesses and community initiatives.

However, her mom also said that it was crucially important for her recovery, and since April, she has been able to learn to stand and walk independently, among other things, to put herself way ahead of schedule in her road to recovery.

As an individual sport, golf can rarely compare to others when it comes to support from the sidelines.

With often over 100 players in the field on any given week, there are interested spectators in certain players, but rarely do you get to experience a visceral pulling in the one direction from the crowd – save for the Ryder Cup which is, admittedly, a team event.

Yet, the K Club on last Sunday afternoon delivered one of the great Irish golfing moments when Rory McIlroy banged in an eagle putt on the 18th green to earn a play-off with Joakim Lagergren. McIlroy subsequently went on to take victory in that play-off, but it was his final stroke in regulation play that drove the crowd wild at the county Kildare venue.

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As one of the fortunate ones to follow the reigning Masters champion around for the day, it was impossible to escape the sense that we were witnessing one of the greats of the game in action. That moment on the 18th green, and the support for McIlroy all through the week, really was something else.

As the thousands raced from hole to hole to get a view of the world number two, McIlroy continued to plug away and eventually get into a tie for the lead, but all the while it was hard to escape what was happening outside the ropes.

I came away from the Straffan course convinced more than ever that McIlroy is one of the world’s great sportspeople of this era.

For some time, he has been under appreciated as one of our island’s top sporting sons. But now, having catapulted himself back into the major arena earlier this year at Augusta, the county Down native has reached a level of stardom that is on a par with the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods. Indeed, that was encapsulated in a touching moment on Saturday when he tossed his golf ball to a young girl who was so overwhelmed with the gesture that she burst into tears.

Before that, on Thursday, McIlroy took to the stage in the fan zone wearing his green jacket and with his other major trophies alongside him too, much to the joy of those who gathered to catch a glimpse of the most famous garment in sport.

One can only imagine that the crowds following him on Sunday can only be compared to those that would follow Tiger Woods in his pomp. The level of adulation towards McIlroy was a sight to behold and, when he rolled in that eagle putt on the 18th green, the screams and cheers were unmistakable. This was a great in action.

On a dreary Sunday during which the weather threatened to spoil a potentially special afternoon, McIlroy kickstarted his charge on the fourth green when he rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt to get the crowd going. From then on, it was a steady performance, though his failure to birdie the par-fives at 10 and 16 had the potential to derail his ambitions to lift the title.

Yet, despite Rafa Cabrera Bello and Joakim Lagergren giving as good as they had, McIlroy hung in there and he got some luck in the play-off when, after a poor drive at the third play-off hole, his task was made easier when Lagergren’s approach found the hazard to the left of the green.

What followed was an outpouring of emotion from the thousands of fans packed along the fairway and around the green as McIlroy claimed his second Irish Open title, nine years after his first at the same venue.

Having had a sometimes unusual relationship with the Irish golfing public, there is little doubt now that McIlroy has everyone onside. His barren run in the major championships between 2014 and this year frustrated everyone who wanted to see him do well, as it was so obvious that his talent deserved more than he was delivering. But this year, with four wins worldwide including last weekend, has helped set things moving in the right direction again.

He spoke after his triumph, and all week, about the incredible level of goodwill on display towards him over the course of the tournament and over the years. It’s clear he is moved by the willingness of fans to show their adulation as often as they can. And while McIlroy will be thrilled with his success, the organisers may be even happier. To have had the marquee name embroiled in a nail-biting Sunday will have generated a huge amount of exposure across the world for the Irish Open and Amgen, the title sponsors. The fact McIlroy won, too, means there’s another added layer to next year’s event when he’ll be defending champion.

All across the venue, the faces of McIlroy, Lowry, Harrington and Power were emblazoned on grandstands and buildings. To have such star power from our own island in the field was important – as you could argue it was a quite unimpressive line-up otherwise. Put simply, the Irish Open needs to be played at a time of year when McIlroy and Lowry, in particular, are ready and able to be part of it.

After achieving the career Grand Slam at Augusta in April, you could be forgiven for thinking that McIlroy has nothing left to tick. But there are other items on the agenda: surpassing Nick Faldo as the most successful European in terms of major wins and beating Colin Montgomerie’s haul of eight order of merit titles chief among them.

Yet, for someone who is so well-known on the global stage, there’s something wholesome about McIlroy being so pumped up for the Irish Open. He also seemed genuinely humbled by the support he received all week.

Maybe it really is the case that, regardless of who you are, home is where the heart is.