{"id":216765,"date":"2025-10-16T07:31:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T07:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/216765\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T07:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T07:31:11","slug":"im-a-bit-of-a-sicko-rory-mcilroy-reveals-surprise-love-for-alternative-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/216765\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’m a bit of a sicko’ – Rory McIlroy reveals surprise love for alternative sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy has revealed he is secretly a massive cricket fan ahead of his return to action.<\/p>\n

The world number two will appear in the India Championship<\/a> this weekend.<\/p>\n

\"NEW<\/a><\/p>\n

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McIlroy has admitted he is a ‘bit of a sicko’ when it comes to his love for cricketCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

It is his first event since helping Team Europe to Ryder Cup glory<\/a> at Bethpage Black last month.<\/p>\n

However, he has admitted there is another sport which he enjoys watching when he is not on the golf course.<\/p>\n

McIlroy<\/a> even joked he is a ‘bit of a sicko’ for enjoying to watch Test matches in his free time.<\/p>\n

The Masters champion made the revelation during a press conference ahead of this week’s event.<\/p>\n

He told reporters: “I\u2019d love to go out and see a cricket game. I\u2019d love to go watch a cricket match.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m a bit of a sicko. I love sitting down and watching Test matches, so I\u2019m going to be in Australia later this year and the Ashes is going to be on.<\/p>\n

“So that\u2019s something that I\u2019m quite excited to (watch). I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to get to a game but at least with the Ashes being on.<\/p>\n

“And I\u2019d love to be here while a Test series is going on between India and England or India and Australia or whatever it is so I\u2019d love to do that.”<\/p>\n

The 2025\/26 Ashes<\/a> is set to get underway in Australia next month.<\/p>\n

England will face their rivals in the opening Test in Perth on November 21.<\/p>\n

\"LONDON,<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Ashes returns next month, with McIlroy already excited to tune in Down UnderCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The series will then run through until the fifth Test, which begins on January 4.<\/p>\n

Australia previously retained the urn in 2023 after a drawn series in England.<\/p>\n

When is McIlroy next playing?<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Ashes, McIlroy will be hoping to claim a 21st DP World Tour<\/a> win this weekend.<\/p>\n

The Delhi Golf Club will stage the first edition of the India Championship after it was added to the tour schedule.<\/p>\n

A total prize fund of $4million (\u00a33m) is on offer, with McIlroy amongst a star-studded field.<\/p>\n

He is set to tee off for his opening round<\/a> at 2.55am BST on Thursday alongside Viktor Hovland and Ben Griffin.<\/p>\n

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McIlroy will be competing in the inaugural India Championship this weekendCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

McIlroy heads into the event top of the Race To Dubai rankings after eight DP World Tour events so far this year.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old has won the rankings race six times in his career, including in each of the last three years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy has revealed he is secretly a massive cricket fan ahead of his return to action. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,104706,622,104707,1976,82,104708],"class_list":{"0":"post-216765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-dp-world-tour","11":"tag-golf","12":"tag-india-championship","13":"tag-rory-mcilroy","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-the-ashes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}