Rory McIlroy and his wife, Erica, were among the guests at the White House State Dinner for England's King Charles III on Tuesday evening, and President Donald Trump interrupted his own speech to single out the six-time major champion. Trump asked McIlroy to stand and praised the golfer in front of the room after his win earlier this month at Augusta National.
McIlroy won his second consecutive Masters earlier this month, becoming just the fourth player in the major's history to defend the title successfully at Augusta National. Tiger Woods was the last to do it there, winning in 2001 and 2002, a benchmark that underscored how rare McIlroy's victory was. Trump told the crowd it was “unconquerable courage” and later added, “Where is Rory McIlroy, can you stand up please? I don’t know if that helps them talk about how wonderful my speech is but I had to interrupt my speech because I watched that man win a tournament that was a tough, that was a tough one. Congratulations, very proud of you. Now I’ll get back to my speech, all right.”
The dinner honored King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the White House, but the golf nod gave the evening a different center of gravity. Trump and McIlroy have played golf together in the past, and the president's public praise came after McIlroy had skipped the last three PGA Tour events following his Augusta win, including this week's signature event at Trump Doral.
That event, the Cadillac Championship, begins Thursday with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler headlining a limited-field field that marks the tournament's return to the PGA Tour schedule for the first time since 2016. McIlroy's absence leaves the focus on the players teeing it up this week, while his Masters run and Tuesday's appearance at the state dinner keep him in the center of the sport's most visible conversations.