"He's got that Rory McIlroy face" – Analyst suggests $10M-worth actor to portray 5x Major champ on screen

One day, Hollywood may set out to make a biopic on Rory McIlroy. His story is one of the most interesting and impressive in golf, and plenty of sports stars have had movies made about them. Sports biopics are pretty popular, and there are some good candidates from today's era who could be in line for a movie someday.

Tiger Woods comes to mind, but so does McIlroy, who just endured a debilitating 11-year Major drought in search of a career Grand Slam only to complete it in dramatic fashion in a playoff.

If that story is to be told, golf analyst Frankie Borrelli believes $10 million worth James Marsden (per Celebrity Net Worth) should play the star golfer. He said via the Fore Play podcast (53:50 onwards):

"Tried to come up with some names that could play PGA Tour players in a movie. What do you guys think? I'm just going to throw out one at you, and it could just be one today. What do you guys think about for Rory McIlroy—James Marsden?"

He continued:

"What do you think about James Marsden? We kind of pencil him in right now as Rory McIlroy... You know, he's got that Rory face, man."

Trent Ryan added that Hugh Grant was suggested to him, but that Grant is probably too old to pull off a mid-30s McIlroy. Borrelli went on:

I'm kind of pinning James Marsden at the top for Rory McIlroy, especially he's in Paradise right now. He's on the new Hulu show. He's hot in the streets. He's a hot guy."

The analysts then discussed the need for several different versions of McIlroy to tell his life story. So they'd need three different actors at three different ages to play the Irishman, but Marsden, the Sonic the Hedgehog and X-Men star, was one of them.

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Rory McIlroy reflects on changes after winning Masters

At the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Rory McIlroy was introduced as the winner of the Masters and the Players Championship. He admitted later that he could get used to such reverent treatment from his peers.

Rory McIlroy reflected on his win (Image via Imagn)

Otherwise, though, nothing has changed. McIlroy revealed to the Guardian that while he did get a sense of accomplishment from his long-awaited win, nothing actually changed.

He said:

“It’s another really big tournament, one I had wanted to win for a long time and hadn’t been able to do it so there is a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. That is really nice but I don’t feel different. I didn’t expect to feel different. I am glad of the experience and glad to have got through it but it wasn’t like I was ever going to wake up the next morning and … ”

McIlroy is already back in action at an event he hadn't even played prior to 2024, just two weeks after his Masters win because nothing has changed for him.