Rory McIlroy adding recovery trailer for international events as part of sponsorship

Thanks to the latest innovations in technology related to fitness and recovery, professional athletes from 41-year-old LeBron James to 39-year-old Novak Djokovic are able to compete at the highest level longer than ever before. Now, Rory McIlroy wants to make sure he’s part of this elite group as he gets older and has taken note from one of his Ryder Cup teammates.

“I decided to pull the trigger on it when Justin [Rose] won in Memphis last year. He’s 45 years old, playing great, contending in major championships, and I was — at that time I was 36. I was like, I want to play really well for the next 10 years; I feel like I need to do something like this.”

McIlroy said he spent the last six to nine months designing a performance trailer with Dutch company Expandable to use for fitness and recovery on the road while he’s competing at tournaments throughout the United States. The 37-year-old used the state-of-the-art trailer for his final three PGA Tour events of the year in Memphis, St. Louis and Atlanta and decided it was time to create a similar operation for his overseas competitions.

“I thought... I have this, the use of this wonderful trailer in the U.S., but I don’t have any coverage around the world,” McIlroy explained.

The career Grand Slam winner said he worked with DP World, for whom he was named as a global ambassador this week, to figure out the logistics of having a fitness and recovery trailer on-site at every international event he plays in, from Europe to the Middle East.

As part of McIlroy’s partnership with DP World, two personalized fitness and recovery trailers will travel with the two-time Masters winner across his PGA Tour and DP World Tour schedules. The goal is for McIlroy to have consistency in his performance and recovery routines week-to-week and allow career longevity, as the Northern Irishman has said he plans to play deep into his 40s.

“Having the same environment to train and recover in every week gives me and my team one less thing to think about and lets us focus on preparing and performing,” McIlroy said after teaming up with DP World.

The Dubai-based logistics company said each of McIlroy’s trailers will be outfitted with strength and cardio equipment, an infrared sauna, a cold plunge and a Hyperice recovery station.

McIlroy said he’s hopeful the international trailer will be ready by next year’s Irish Open. He’ll tee it up alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre on Wednesday (U.S. time) for the opening round of the DP World India Championship at 9:45 p.m. ET.