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Rory’s unusual moment in the spotlight

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SYLVANIA, OH - JULY 03: Natalie Gulbis reacts to a birdie putt on the 17th green during the second round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic at Highland Hills Golf Club on July 3, 2009 in Sylvania, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

DORAL, Fla. – Rory McIlroy sat in front of the assembled media Tuesday at Doral, having been anointed the new world No. 1 a mere 47 hours earlier.

In that short span he had received congrats from many of Europe’s biggest sports stars, including several from his beloved Manchester United soccer squad.

Sprinkled in was a trip to New York where he sat front row Monday for a tennis exhibition at Madison Square Garden where his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki joined Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

At one point in the match Sharapova selected someone from the crowd to dance with. Wozniacki then asked if anyone wanted to dance with her. That’s when McIlroy jumped into the mix.

“I’m like ‘I don’t want anyone else dancing with you’ so I put my hand up,” McIlroy said. “Thank God she didn’t ask me to dance. I was much happier hitting a tennis shot.’

Even that wasn’t easy.

“I’ve never been so nervous in my life,” he said. “I can hit a golf shot in front of a million people, but getting up there …”

McIlroy made contact in his one shot, hitting an underarm dribbler over the net. “Maria was nice, she hit it back to me at quite a gentle pace,” he said.