Rory McIlroy back to golf amid lingering personal questions

In the often taciturn realm of professional athletes, Rory McIlroy has always been markedly patient and candid with the media.

But it seems the golfer from Northern Ireland has reached his limit when it comes to discussing his split last week with Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.

“I’m here to talk about my golf,” he told reporters at the Memorial Tournament, where he was scheduled to begin first-round play at Ohio’s Muirfield Village Golf Club shortly after 10 a.m. PDT Thursday.

McIlroy previously spoke at length about breaking off the engagement just days after wedding invitations were put in the mail.

“I thought it was best that instead of letting it linger and rumors, just to have it right there as soon as possible,” he told reporters this week.

After the announcement, McIlroy overcame distractions to win the BMW PGA Championship. But that didn’t put an end to questions about his personal life, especially with Wozniacki saying that he broke up with her over the phone.

Asked if he might have been better off keeping quiet about the whole thing, McIlroy responded: “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s one of those things that it was a very public relationship.”