After the kind of career Rory McIlroy has had, it would be hard to imagine that the Northern Irishman wasn’t destined to be a professional golfer. While it would be hard to imagine McIlroy doing anything other than play pro golf, the 2025 Masters winner does know what he would do if he weren’t a golfer.
On December 31, 2025, McIlroy appeared on his TGL team Boston Common Golf’s YouTube channel. In this video, McIlroy was asked plenty of questions, with one such question being what he would do if he weren’t a professional golfer.
Rory McIlroy answered the question by saying that he would do something in sport. McIlroy said:
“I think I would still have done something in sport, like sports science.” [1:39 onwards]
You can check what Rory McIlroy said in the video below:
While Rory McIlroy did come up with an alternate career quickly, it’s simply hard to imagine him never playing golf. After all, McIlroy has many splendid accolades to his name, and he even joined an exclusive club of golfers who completed a Career Grand Slam.
Rory McIlroy said golfers are more of ‘scientists’ than ‘artists’ last year
![Rory McIlroy clicked in action during the fourth and final round of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 [Image via Getty]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2026/01/05ab4-17673051996820-1920.jpg?w=640)
Before the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open could begin, McIlroy made a very interesting statement about the evolution of golf in the last 20 years. McIlroy said that the way golf has evolved, it would be safe to say golfers today are more of ‘scientists’ than ‘artists.’
He said:
“Yeah, I mean, I’d like to think of myself more as an artist than a scientist when it comes to the game. But I think in this generation at this point with TrackMan and biomechanics and all the technological advances, I think — again, I think my perception of myself as an artist. But I think with the way the game has went over the last 20 years, we are probably are more scientists than we are artists.
McIlroy further added:
“I’d like to think that I have the game or adaptability to do well in that era with that equipment.”
It must be noted that apart from this statement, McIlroy’s performance at the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open also gained traction. The golfer came very close to winning as he finished T2 behind the tournament winner, Chris Gotterup.