Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki: The Wozzilroy Bandwagon

It’s getting a little bit awkward. Has been for a while.

The McIlroy & Wozniacki bandwagon entered Augusta National’s par 3 tournament Wednesday, only this time the Danish tennis player was actually dressed.

Not like at, say, the World Golf Finals in Turkey in October when she almost wore short pants together with a sleeveless T-shirt and wandered around the course inside the ropes, following her boyfriend who occasionally took his eyes off her (unlike the spectators) and made time to hit a shot once in awhile.

Scantily clad or in a white boiler suit, Caroline Wozniacki comes with the appearance of Rory McIlroy, it seems. The circus even has a name, Wozzilroy.

Caroline, in front, naturally, just like when they appear together on the course. “Wozzil” says and does all the “funny” stuff while Roy smiles and nods. It’s really sweet, and just what golf needs. Two athletes acting like whimsy school kids, not knowing when enough is enough.

Maybe because, people can’t get enough of the Wozzilroys.

A recent article in the New York Times suggested that: “Through the ordinariness of their relationship, Wozniacki and McIlroy enjoy the privacy that Woods and Vonn pointedly asked for, the better to exist, in Woods’ words, “as an ordinary couple.”

Let me voice my own theory here: If what Wozzilroy is practicing, is “privacy,” and if they exist as “an ordinary couple,” I think neither Woods nor Vonn (should we call them The VonnWoods?) wants any part of it.

We have yet to see how Vonn will appear after a Tiger victory–maybe we will this week–but I think it’s fair to assume that she will not be crawling around on the green, in front of the press photographers, taking pictures of Woods for her Twitter and Instagram account.

In fact, I will bet on it.

I simply don’t think Woods (and Vonn for that matter) would consider it ordinary "couple conduct" during a winner's ceremony, and it would be anything else than private. However, it would bring attention, and the Wozzilroys like attention, but on their own terms.

When sweet Caroline hits a ball in the water at Augusta–because, of course, she would have to do that–that’s the kind of attention the former No. 1s want. Like when they dine out in privacy and make sure people take note of their public “privacy,” projected by themselves on every social network humanly possible to access.

However, this “ordinary” life on public display, can be put on “pause,” the couple seem to imagine.

When “ordinary” gets too ordinary (or what others would call “really private”) their “public privacy” suddenly ceases to exist such as when McIlroy walked off the course in the Honda Classic. Only few voiced the theory that this was not about a swing or a mental stage, but this could be about a couple in trouble.

Until McIlroy chose to hold a press conference, no one knew what was going on.

Suddenly, the Wozzilroys wanted real privacy. The kind where you stay away. Fair enough. But one question remains: If this was not about a relationship crisis, why did neither McIlroy nor Wozniacki kill the rumors?

One of their beloved Twitters would have been enough, but neither commented. Not one usually semi-cheesy comment from Wozniacki to McIlroy such as “Poor Curly! At least I still love you.” Fact is, that a Twitter like that would have set a lot of things straight if the crisis was not about the couple, but about the swing.

But suddenly, neither was texting anything about each other.

I don’t care if it was a crisis between two lovers that needed solving before either could say anything in public, but the point is that the Wozzilroys–like so many others today–want to direct their own “privacy show” called “Our Ordinary Life,” but they leave out the byline “That we want you to see, when we want you to see it.”

By all means, go ahead. Lots of people will watch, as they do so many other reality shows.

There is, however, another group that watches. Not with interest, but with concern. That’s the group of people concerned about what that particular kind of “privacy” and “ordinary living” does to a career that requires focus, dedication, discipline and a sense of responsibility and character.

Rory was let off the hook in the Ryder Cup, when he, for instance, almost missed his tee time in his singles match against Bradley Keegan. McIlroy later won, but he has paid the price of not honoring the No. 1 spot in the world and respected the responsibility of defending the position wholeheartedly.

Some say, it’s a joke. Sure. A bad joke on the brink of being stupid.

Wozniacki also has made public jokes about her being the real star in their relationship, not McIlroy, and during an exhibition match against Maria Sharapova in Sao Paulo, the Dane stuffed towels down her dress to mimic the voluptuous figure of Serena Williams.

Not everybody thought the latter example was funny.

The young Dane has made several “jokes” on and off the course, particular when she was the No. 1 female player while the Williams and Sharapova were missing in action due to injuries (via the Mirror). Unlike her boyfriend, she never has won a grand slam title in tennis that resembles the majors in golf, and it’s a big question if she ever will (via Daily Mail).

As does McIlroy, she has had a unique take on how to be the leading player in the world. But with her being the dominant individual in the relationship, it seems it’s also apparent that her way of thinking about her career is rubbing off on McIlroy.

He gave her immense credit for his last major victory (via the Telegraph), saying her way of training and focusing has inspired him while most of the international tennis world is asking why she is not changing her mindset if she wants to win a grand slam or even stay in the top 10.

Two days before McIlroy walked off the course in the Honda Classic, Wozniacki lost an early match in Malaysia 2-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 to qualifier Qiang Wang, ranked the world's No 186. Many thought there was a connection, and maybe there was, but Wozniacki has made a habit of losing early to lesser-ranked players, and her “I know better”-approach to her own game is not helping.

It’s her farther, Piotr, who knows even better.

Being a former football player in Poland for Miedź Legnica and KGHM Zagłębie Lubin, he took on coaching his daughter in tennis, a sport he has never mastered on a competitive level. He also brought her to great heights, including the No. 1 spot in the world.

However, keeping her there when the best players returned and start winning majors against the players in the top 5 was a job for a real coach. This, the Wozniackis have never found necessary, though they did try out Spanish coach Ricardo Sanchez for two months.

Meanwhile, the play of Miss Wozniacki indicates she is not getting closer to the top or to a grand slam, and when asked about it, it doesn't seem to bother her (via ESPN).

Same thing, if McIlroy is asked these days, whether he can beat Woods and get the throne back, the young player seems to insist that Tiger is the best and that he feels good about not having the pressure of being No. 1 (via the News).

This is probably quite another picture that Nike imagined when it paid $250 million to the 23-year-old megastar. But the fact is, maybe Nike forgot to factor in the mindset of a young fellow who fired maybe the best agent in golf (Chubby Chandler) because he wanted to go his own way.

For now, the Wozzilroys are going in precisely the direction they want.

Unfortunately, that means we can’t count on them to appear as much more than a sideshow such as the one they pulled off Wednesday at Augusta where Wozniacki finished the round while McIlroy ended up the caddie.