(Reuters) – Defending FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy acknowledged being distracted over the last few weeks but says it is because he is ready to walk out on the season-ending Championships to attend the birth of his first child.
The 31-year-old confirmed on Saturday, after the third round of the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, that his wife Erica was expected to give birth any day.
“My mind has been wandering the last few weeks,” McIlroy told reporters after he shot a three-over par 73 to slip into a tie for sixth on two-over 212 and three shots behind co-leaders Hideki Matsuyama and Dustin Johnson.
“We’re about to be parents very soon, so we’re obviously super excited … and can’t wait for her to get here.”
McIlroy added that he had been waiting for the phone call telling him that it was time to head home for more than a week and he would have no hesitation in walking off, even if during the final Tour Championship in Atlanta.
“I’m going to play in many more Tour Championships, and it’s only going to be the birth of your first child once,” he said.
“That trumps anything else.”
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by William Mallard)
