"My connection to Rochester's got a lot stronger" - Rory McIlroy is all set for the PGA Championship to be hosted in his wife’s hometown

Rory McIlroy is looking forward to teeing off at the PGA Championship this year. The tournament is always a very prominent stop on the calendar but, being played this year in Rochester, New York, it has a special meaning for him.

Few know that McIlroy has a special relationship with that city. He first visited it in 2013, when he participated in the PGA Championship held at the Oak Hill course, the same course that will again host the tournament in two weeks.

In that 2013 edition, McIlroy arrived as defending champion (he had won in 2012) and ultimately finished eighth.

Rory McIlroy defending his PGA Championship title at East Course, Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, 2013. (Image via Getty).

Rochester is also the hometown of Erica Stoll, Rory McIlroy's wife. In fact, when McIlroy first played at Oak Hill in 2013, he had already met Stoll a year earlier.

It happened on the occasion of the 2012 Ryder Cup, which was played in Chicago. Stoll worked for PGA Tour America and was in charge of arranging transportation and even police escort for McIlroy to get him to Medinah Country Club, as he was running late.

After that, McIlroy and Stoll started a friendship that turned into romance and finally marriage in 2017. Obviously, after these events, as he has said, his connection to Rochester has "got a lot stronger."

"From the last time I was there or we were all there, my connection to Rochester's got a lot stronger. So I'm excited to go and play a Major championship in what feels like, almost, a second home to me," McIlroy said, accrding to Golf Monthly.

However, McIlroy's relationship with Rochester is not limited to his wife. He is currently a member of Oak Hill Country Club (where the PGA Championship will be played) and has said that the East Course has regained its "former glory."

Rory McIlroy on the PGA Tour

Rory McIlroy, 34 years old and 15 as a professional golfer, has had a distinguished career on the PGA Tour, of which he has been an official member since 2010. His resume registers 23 titles, including four majors: PGA Championship (2012 and 2014), US Open (2011), and The Open Championship (2014).

Rory McIlroy holding his last (to date) Major trophy at the 2014 PGA Championship. (Image via Getty).

He was only the third player in history to win three of the four majors at the age of 25 or younger. He crowned that stage of his career with two PGA Tour Player of the Year awards in just three seasons (2012 and 2014).

Since then, although he has not repeated his victory in any major tournament, he has continued to show himself as a solid player, always being among the best in the world.

Proof of this is that, since 2014, McIlroy has only seen one season without at least one win (2017-18). That was just the second season of his career without victories (the previous one was 2013).

The 2023 PGA Championship will be an opportunity for McIlroy to win a major again, nearly 10 years later. Doing it in a city like Rochester, so special to him, can be a considerable extra boost.