The football injury that forced Rory McIlroy to withdraw from The Open at St Andrews 

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The year was 2015, and Rory McIlroy was gearing up for The Open Championship at St. Andrews.

He’d just won the Claret Jug a year prior at Royal Liverpool, and what better place to defend your crown than the Home of Golf? McIlroy was world number one, in incredible form, and the favorite to win the tournament.

But he’d never get that opportunity, all because of an unfortunate injury that happened well away from the golf course. It was an incident on the football pitch that would end McIlroy’s hopes at St Andrews.  

The injury that forced Rory McIlroy to miss the 2015 Open Championship

McIlroy’s injury was sustained when playing football with his friends in Northern Ireland. Playing on an artificial five-a-side pitch, he turned his ankle and suffered a total rupture of the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) in his left ankle.

Pictured standing in a walking boot, he posted to Instagram: “Total rupture of left ATFL (ankle ligament) and associated joint capsule damage in a soccer kickabout with friends on Saturday. Continuing to assess extent of injury and treatment plan day by day. 

“Rehab already started … Working hard to get back as soon as I can.”

He wouldn’t be back in time for The Open, and he became the first defending champion to miss the tournament since Ben Hogan in 1954.

This was also devastating for McIlroy’s career momentum. He was in the midst of a dominant stretch, having already won four majors and two in 2014. He wouldn’t win another for a decade.

The long-term impact of Rory McIlroy’s injury

McIlroy made a surprising, rapid recovery and was back in action 40 days later to defend his PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. But even though he was back on the golf course, he wasn’t completely healed.

He later noted that the ATFL never truly “re-attached” in the same way, leaving him with two ligaments on the outside of his ankle instead of three and requiring lifelong stability exercises in the gym.

Years later, during the 2022 Open at St Andrews, McIlroy reflected on the 2015 mishap, calling himself a “silly boy.” He admitted that the injury likely halted his major championship momentum, ending a streak of 26 consecutive major appearances and arguably cooling the “invincibility” he felt at the time.

Since that incident, he has famously maintained a self-imposed ban on playing soccer during the season to ensure his health for the game’s biggest stages.