Titled RORY LAND: The Up-and-Down World of Golf’s Global Icon, the book is set for release in mid-May in U.S. bookstores, with Regalo Press publishing and Simon & Schuster handling distribution. The biography was completed in late 2024–just months before McIlroy won the 2025 Masters, his first major championship in over a decade. A special epilogue reflecting on McIlroy’s Masters win will be included in the overseas and digital editions.

Gay, a 1972 graduate of Warren Area High School, has built a reputation as a meticulous and insightful author. In RORY LAND, he explores how McIlroy’s upbringing in a country fractured by sectarian violence influenced the golfer’s mindset, performance, and public life.

“Rory McIlroy is the child and grandchild of nightmarish conflict. None of us should be surprised that he’s gone through life – and golf – conflicted,” writes Gay.

Gay recounts harrowing family history that haunts McIlroy’s legacy. His great-uncle, a Catholic and pioneering computer engineer, was murdered by Protestant paramilitaries in 1972 for moving into a Protestant neighborhood.

Timothy M. Gay

At the time, McIlroy’s father, Gerry, was just 13 years old.

McIlroy’s mother, Rosie McDonald, grew up in Lurgan, a town west of Belfast that earned the nickname “Murder Town” during The Troubles. Raised in a Catholic public housing project marred by anti-British graffiti and violence, Rosie’s childhood was filled with bombings and shootings.

Though McIlroy rarely speaks about his family’s connection to Northern Ireland’s turbulent past, Gay believes this silence speaks volumes. He cites a study showing that Northern Ireland has the highest incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among societies that track it, hinting that McIlroy’s internal battles may run far deeper than golf.

Despite this dark backdrop, Gay celebrates McIlroy for his grace, charisma, and philanthropy.

“Many of us want to lead Ted Lasso Lives: meaningful, curious, caring,” Gay writes. “We don’t all get there, but Rory Daniel McIlroy, despite the blemishes mixed in with those freckles, has gotten closer than most.”

Photo submitted to the Times Observer Pictured is the front cover of the book RORY LAND: The Up-and-Down World of Golf’s Global Icon, written by Timothy Gay.

With more than 40 global wins, including five major championships and three FedEx Cups, McIlroy remains one of golf’s biggest stars. Yet Gay argues that McIlroy is “a man without a country,” struggling to find national identity amid the ongoing tension in Ulster.

The book’s title, RORY LAND, refers to the complex personal and professional world McIlroy and his inner circle have built.

“Rory Land is a little world unto itself,” Gay explains. “Like most cultures, its ways are muddled: far-sighted and compassionate on the one hand; myopic, tin-eared, and insular on the other.”

Gay’s analysis extends to McIlroy’s passionate obsession with the Ryder Cup, which he says reflects McIlroy’s yearning for a unifying cause in a life marked by national division.

“The Ryder Cup has become his Fourth of July, Guy Fawkes Night, and St. Patrick’s Day all rolled into one,” Gay writes.

Gay, a Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of four critically acclaimed books, also highlights McIlroy’s parents’ sacrifices. He documents how Gerry and Rosie McIlroy juggled multiple jobs to support their son’s budding golf career, a testament to the family’s blue-collar grit and determination.

True to its philanthropic mission, publisher Regalo Press–founded by publishing veteran Gretchen Young–will donate a portion of the book’s profits to Save the Children’s work in Northern Ireland, an organization close to Gay’s heart. Gay is the father of three, grandfather of two, and the son of the late Anne Harrington Gay of Warren.

“It’s a story of resilience and reinvention,” Gay said. “Rory’s triumphs on the course are extraordinary, but his endurance off the course may be even more remarkable.”

RORY LAND is available for preorder now on Amazon and other major book retailers.