Three years after Alan Shipnuck caused an uproar with Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar, the author has turned his attention to Rory McIlroy.

Titled ‘Rory: The Heartache and Triumph of Golf’s Most Human Superstar’, Shipnuck’s new book will come out in March 2026. And when Sports Book Reviews brought it into the spotlight with a post on X, the writer responded with a single emoji.

According to Sport Book Reviews, “Phil was fantastic, Rory promises to be just as good. 9/x”

Back in March, Shipnuck took to X to declare it would be a fun read. "Rory book is done! Comes out in March. I had a blast typing this, which hopefully means it’s fun to read. He’s had a big life, and it’s all in here."

And that might be the case since it was a massive year for McIlroy, especially with his first Masters win in 2025. But that's not the only reason Shipnuck had fun with the book.

"I think Rory is the only modern character who can actually carry a book as far as the scope of his life, the depth of his thinking and the passion that he, kind of, enflames."

Alan Shipnuck promised a different take on the Rory McIlroy biography

As fans may remember, back when Shipnuck wrote the Mickelson biography, the details of his LIV Golf move rattled the sport. In fact, Mickelson stepped away from golf back in 2022. Now, with the McIlroy biography, Shipnuck has a different way of going about things.

“I said this to Rory, that the last two books I did were big and controversial but I'd like this to be a bit more fun and celebratory because I think there's a lightness to his being. I'm not getting sucked into the recency bias, I'm looking at the whole scale of his career and there's been a lot of joy there. It's going to be an intimate portrait” 

Will you be getting the book when it releases on March 31st, 2026? Let us know in the comments!

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar