Rory Land : The Up-and-Down World of Golf's Global Icon - Timothy M. Gay

Rory Land

The Up-and-Down World of Golf's Global Icon

By: Timothy M. Gay

Hardcover | 13 May 2025

At a Glance

Hardcover


$64.25

or 4 interest-free payments of $16.06 with

 or 

Available: 13th May 2025

Preorder. Will ship when available.

RORY LAND is the unabashed story of Rory McIlroy, golf’s most compelling icon, the caring but conflicted soul from a troubled Irish homeland with a swing that borders on the immaculate.

Timothy M. Gay writes that four-time major champion Rory McIlroy is “golf’s ageless Opie Taylor,” a freckled superstar whose boyish charm transcends national boundaries and enlivens the game. His seemingly effortless swing is so powerful that Tiger Woods is teaching his own son to mimic Rory’s action.

But a charismatic persona and a pretty swing don’t necessarily translate into winning major championships. Over the past decade, Rory has had his heart ripped out as he’s failed to win another major and fallen short of achieving the career Grand Slam.

He’s also become a lightning rod, getting into a profanity-laced smackdown at the ’23 Ryder Cup and, after his betrayal by PGA Tour brass, causing head-scratching confusion by going from an impassioned opponent of a deal with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf to an outspoken proponent. His backtrack on LIV fits a disquieting pattern, Gay reveals, of Rory’s propensity to flip-flop on key principles and people.

McIlroy is from Northern Ireland, a geopolitical anomaly where religion and patriotism have been used as bloody cudgels for much of the past century. Both sides of his family were battered by the North’s sectarian Troubles—ugly realities that McIlroy has been loath to acknowledge.

Rory is, Gay believes, a man essentially without a country, which might explain why he’s become so obsessed with the Ryder Cup. Gay argues that McIlroy has, in effect, invented his own fiefdom, which the author has dubbed “RORY LAND.”

RORY LAND tells the up-and-down saga of a compassionate and kind-hearted superstar living in a world where “money has no conscience.”

More in Sport Biographies

Iron Hope : Lessons Learned from Conquering the Impossible - James Lawrence
The Grade Cricketer - Dave Edwards

RRP $29.95

$27.80

NBA Legends : Discover Basketball's All-Time Greats - Dan Peel
No Spin : The autobiography of Shane Warne - Shane Warne

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
Max Verstappen : The unstoppable force in Formula One - Ewan McKenzie
Angeball : The Definitive Biography of Ange Postecoglou - Vince Rugari
The Showman - Glenn Maxwell

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$33.25

10%
OFF
Showing Up : Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable - Nedd Brockmann
Steph Curry : Life Lessons from a Legend - Sean Deveney

RRP $34.99

$32.95

The Wolf You Feed - Andrew Webster

RRP $36.99

$34.50

The Irish Experiment - Zach Tuohy

RRP $39.99

$35.35

12%
OFF
The Boys' Club - Michael Warner

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Unbreakable - Jess Halloran

Paperback

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Surviving to Drive : A Year Inside Formula 1 - Guenther Steiner
Enzo Ferrari : The definitive biography of an icon - Luca Dal Monte
Eleven Bats : A story of combat, cricket and the SAS - Anthony 'Harry' Moffitt
Throwing the Book - Wayne Barnes

RRP $26.99

$25.75