As you know from my posting yesterday, I was rooting for Rory McIlroy to win the Masters and complete his career Grand Slam porfolio.

Mission accomplished, and I’ll tell you why I have always rooted for Rory – he was the first pro golfer whose swing I posted on YouTube way back in 2009 when I was very early into my golf swing research.

I remember when he turned pro in 2007 because I spent most of that autumn and winter sitting in my basement office analyzing my own swing and that of other golfers, so my TV was nearly perpetually turned to The Golf Channel – back when you could still get educational golf content (those Bobby Jones skits!).

I may have posted videos of Rory even earlier than what I have on this old YouTube channel of mine, but I’m pretty sure that this was my first account, so it’s possible I deleted videos older than what I have – too far back to recall exactly.

This video, I posted on February 9th, 2010:

And even earlier than that, I have a video on this account of Rory that I posted back on July 12th, 2009:

I was there watching the Masters that spring of 2011 when he jacked a drive on the 10th tee while leading the final round and the wheels didn’t just come off on that hole, they exploded and burst into flames.

I miss the old Golf Channel, let me tell you all.  When I first became obsessed with golf and the golf swing back in ’97 and up to ’99, I probably had the TV tuned to that channel more than all other channel times put together.

There were always shows, interviews (Peter Kessler, anyone?) and replays of old classic tournaments on hand…

When I returned to the Golf Channel in ’05 after a few years away from it (I had quit playing golf in frustration with swing issues and the modern method around ’00, but I always watched the majors and a few others like the Players’ whatever I was doing in life), it was on again most of the time.

So Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are two pro golfers whose entire careers I’ve witnessed from when they turned pro, and yesterday was a great day to watch Rory pick up that Green Jacket and put 14 years of demons (and 11 years without a major title) to rest.

Congrats, Rors!