McIlroy will 'carry on living his life' and won't quit St Stephen's Day kickabout with friends

McIlroy said he won’t play football again during the golf season, but insisted his St Stephen’s Day game is sacrosanct.

Rory McIlroy's year has been tracked by his sponsor Santander, which is launching a new Spendlytics app to help its customers keep a track on the payments they make.

thumbnail: McIlroy said he won’t play football again during the golf season, but insisted his St Stephen’s Day game is sacrosanct.
thumbnail: Rory McIlroy's year has been tracked by his sponsor Santander, which is launching a new Spendlytics app to help its customers keep a track on the payments they make.
Breda Heffernan

An ankle injury picked up during a kickabout with his friends may have cost Rory McIlroy the title of the world's number one golfer, but he has said he will never give up his St Stephen's Day game, describing it as "our FA Cup final".

McIlroy said he won't play football again during the golf season, but insisted his St Stephen's Day game is sacrosanct.

"That's our FA Cup final. It is important to carry on living my life," he said.

McIlroy was speaking at a launch of an app by his sponsor Santander, which tracks customers' spending habits. And the boffins behind the app crunched some numbers for him.

So far this season, the four-time Major winner has spent 350 hours in the air, 287 nights in hotels and enjoyed just 18 days off.

And this year, McIlroy ran over 1,000km, compared to just 440km in 2011.