Less than a week on from his Masters victory, Rory McIlroy has received an invitation to showcase his Green Jacket at one of the most iconic stadiums in football.
A life-long Manchester United fan, the five-time Major winner received an invite to Old Trafford from the club's manager, Ruben Amorim, on Wednesday, with a 20-second video released to United's social pages.
In the video, Amorim begins with the words "hi Rory," before adding: “Congratulations for The Masters and I want to invite you to Old Trafford to show your trophy.
“It is really important to us in this moment. You achieved something that a lot of people thought would be impossible and we want that feeling in our stadium. So, I hope to see you soon at Old Trafford and to meet you.”
McIlroy may well be there this week after Radar Atlas on X revealed his plane was heading across the Atlantic back to Northern Ireland. Man Utd are playing at home on Thursday and Sunday, so McIlroy has two chances over the coming days to show off the Green Jacket.
Previously, McIlroy has paraded a trophy at the stadium. Back in 2014, following his Open Championship victory at Royal Liverpool, the then 23-year-old showed off the Claret Jug during half-time in a match with Swansea City in early August.
In fact, following his victory at Augusta National, McIlroy was posed the question of whether he would make the journey to Old Trafford in the foreseeable future, with his response simply being: "If it can inspire some better play, absolutely."
As mentioned, McIlroy has been a lifelong United fan and has been seen attending a number of games. What's more, on The Overlap podcast, he revealed that former United player, Roy Keane, was in fact one of his sporting idols.
Humorously, McIlroy then revealed a story where Keane, who was on the podcast, blanked him as a 12-year-old, with the Northern Irishman explaining : "I was staying at the Portmarnock Links Hotel and the Irish (football) team were staying there.
"I saw one of my Man United heroes in the lobby, Roy Keane, and I went over and asked him for an autograph. He was sat down and then looked up at me and goes 'not today kid'".
Sat listening to McIlroy, Keane does respond humorously with the words "is that true?" with the golf star and guests able to have a laugh about the moment some 20-years on.
Currently, it's unclear as to whether McIlroy will take United up on the offer, especially as he is set to return at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Shane Lowry on the 24 - 27th April.
After that appearance, he will then make his way to the Truist Championship (previously Wells Fargo), where he is the defending champion, before the second Major of the year, the PGA Championship, gets under way the week after on the 15 - 18th May.
