Rory McIlroy's new bachelor pad on the outskirts of Holywood
This is the luxury seafront bachelor pad where Rory McIlroy is about to pitch up to.
Golf’s World No1 has bought a top-floor apartment right on the Cultra seafront – just a short ‘drive’ from his hometown of Holywood.
And sources reckon the 25-year-old champ could be set to move in over Christmas.
The stunning pad is part of a block of five luxury apartments with each one costing around £400,000 - that’s less than half Rory scooped for winning this years Open Championship.
But such was the multi-millionaire’s desire to build a permanent base for himself in Northern Ireland, he’s currently having builders renovate the entire top floor into one massive state-of-the-art apartment.
It’s only a short hop across the pond from Glasgow, where Rory narrowly missed out on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award on Sunday night.
McIlroy was favourite to win the gong at bookies’ odds of around 1/10 by the time the show began, but F1 champion Lewis Hamilton won the gong on the night.
The Sunday World also understands that the golfer ordered a bespoke American-style fridge that was so big the builders dropped it on to the grand staircase, which had to be rebuilt.
The home also boasts a private lift and underfloor heating with individual thermostats in every room, en suite bathrooms and bespoke kitchens.
The 8,000sq ft house boasts stunning views of the North Down seafront and the County Antrim coast.
Just yards from Holywood Yacht Club, Rory’s latest property is sure to have the chattering classes of the leafy neighbourhood, where Northern Ireland’s richest judges, bankers and business people live.
The property, sold by estate agent Simon Brien, contains five apartments, each valued at around £400,000 each.
His most recent property buy shows that the Holywood golfer is determined to maintain his ties with his hometown – something he has always vowed to do.
It also means he will be closer to his oldest mates and his parents, who he stayed with when he sold Robinhall House.
Regardless of what happens tonight in Glasgow McIlroy has enjoyed a stunning year on the golf course which ironically seemed to be boosted by his split with tennis ace Caroline Wozniaki.
The Open Championship and the USPGA titles were added to the two majors he has already won and he was a major component of the Ryder Cup victory at Glen Eagles in September.
This week he scooped another prestigious award when he was named the Golf Writers Association’s Player of the Year.
Last year he sold the £2m house and golf course in Moneyreagh, Co Down.
He had converted the grounds of the picturesque Robinhall House into a world-class golf training facility.
The facility at Robinhall is now open to the public, who can pay to test their golfing mettle on some of the finest grasses procured from famous courses around the world such as St Andrews, Augusta and Pebble Beach.
On Rory’s latest purchase, his spokesperson, Terry Prone, told press: “Buying the house is like a bricks-and-mortar statement on his commitment to Northern Ireland, his sense of being rooted in Northern Ireland.
“Rory always says that when his plane is coming in over Belfast he gets the most intense feeling of coming home. His friends are there, the ones he has been friends with for 10 or more years. And of course, his parents.”
The £400,000 price tag on the apartment, tucked away behind the Culloden Hotel, is still a shy amount compared to the £7.2m he splashed on his USA residence in Jupiter, Florida.