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Supporting all aspects of care and the connection to the game of golf

Every part of health needs to play as one. Just as in the game of golf, the importance of a strong body and mind are the keys to success. Optum and our Health Ambassador, Rory McIlroy, are paving the way toward health care done right. Because health care is better when it’s built for the whole you.

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Yeah um… It’s gonna be a little more thought in this one. I am a terrible golfer left-handed. 

Optum Presents Opposite Swing with Rory McIlroy

This isn’t my normal driver. 

We asked Rory to take a swing left-handed.

Swinging a golf club for me right-handed is probably more natural than using a knife and fork. 

You sort of have to go through the list of fundamentals again the other way around. 

Non-dominant hand exercises can help improve brain fitness.

Anything that makes you uncomfortable and that you have to sort of overcome is really good mental exercise 

That was actually ok.

Better health takes both body and mind.

 

 

 

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Linking body and mind: Rory giving it a
go left-handed

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Open on an orange frame that widens to reveal Rory McIlroy teeing up for a swing.

Cut to Rory Mcllroy taking a shot from the tee as the gallery claps behind him.

Close up of the gallery clapping.

Cut to a man doing Thai chi in the park.

Widen shot to reveal the gallery clapping behind him.

Cut to close up of the gallery clapping.

Cut to a rock climber moving up the wall 

Rock climber pauses on the wall to take an inhale from his prescribed inhaler.

Cut to a woman on a couch having an online therapy session.  

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Support comes in many forms

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Yeah, sort of feels like I sense a lot more. I sense the sand in my feet, but I obviously can’t see what I’m doing. Yeah, sort of feels like I sense a lot more. I sense the sand in my feet, but I obviously can’t see what I’m doing. 

We invited Rory back to the site of his famous 2019 shot

And here is McIlroy. At 15. From a very clean line. Excellent shot by McIlroy. 

This shot from the bunker to the green to set myself up for birdie was probably one of the best shots I’ve hit in my career. 

We then asked him to recreate that shot.

With a twist

Do you want me to put this on?

Absolutely, let’s see it.

Everything feels more heightened, so like I hear more things. I’m feeling the grip. I feel like I can feel a little more of the club head. 

Not sure where it went. But it felt pretty good. 

Concentrating on your other senses can help you focus

I think when you’re blind folded hitting a golf shot out of a fairway bunker, you have no option but to be in the moment and be present. 

Better health takes both body and mind

Optum

 

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Linking body and mind: One of Rory’s best shots of his career, with a twist

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Optum PROUD PARTNER THE PLAYERS

 

THE PLAYERS Championship® gathers the game's greatest golfers to compete for one of its most coveted titles and creates unforgettable moments that have defined careers.

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Rory and Optum share a passion in helping communities thrive

Our dedication to helping others is a boundaryless endeavor. Driving progress and making a real impact on every dimension of health takes empathy, engagement and action, in the heart of the communities we serve. One connection, one person at a time. 

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Cooper Bradford:
Hi, Rory.

Rory McIlroy:
Hey, Cooper. How are you?

Cooper Bradford:
I'm good. How are you?

Rory McIlroy:
Good. Thank you.

Cooper Bradford:
Serious question, Rory: Pineapples on pizza, yay or nay?

Rory McIlroy:
Yay. I think. Yay. What do you think?

Cooper Bradford:
Nay.

Rory McIlroy:
Nay? Okay.

I love The First Tee program. I think it's such a cool thing for kids to learn the game of golf, but also learn through values about life in general.

Kaitlyn Hayes:
Our nine healthy habits, one of them is community and helping engage the kids in communities. Optum has been amazing. Their donation is helping us to provide afterschool programs to help educate kids on the importance of nutrition. With their support, we're able to expand our reach outside of golf and offer more than just golf curriculum to help combat food insecurity in Memphis.

Rory McIlroy:
For Optum to get involved and donate to The First Tee is really cool, and for me to play even just a tiny role in that is something that I'm very proud of.

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Youth participants from The First Tee Memphis chapter interviewed Rory through a virtual press conference.

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Rory:
It's been a full year since we last met. Since then, the world was faced with something we all would never imagine. Last year I learned just how much St Vincent's team was doing to provide access to care for those underserved in the Jacksonville community.

Rory:
Now more than ever, we can't thank you enough. Optum's making another donation this year to support mobile health unit operations so you can continue the great work for those that need it most in the community. And I heard you're a golf fan, and hopefully a fan of mine. And because of that, I'd like you to walk inside the ropes with me during my first round on Thursday.

Nurse:
What?

Driver:
That is so cool.

Nurse:
To have a nationally known company come in and want to keep our program, specifically, going means that they truly believe in what we're doing as much as we do working in it every single day.

Driver:
I believe in what we do. I love what we do. I love giving back to the community.

Nurse:
The mobile health units go out and provide medical care for the uninsured. And we have both the pediatric side, the adult side, and we have a seniors program.

Driver:
The smiles that you see on the people that are recipients of our services, it just tells the whole story. It's really rewarding.

Speaker 4:
We have a visitor.

Speaker 5:
Oh.

Rory:
Hi guys.

Speaker 5:
Hello.

Rory:
How are you?

Speaker 4:
I wanted to introduce you to a couple people.

Rory:
I'm Rory. Nice to meet you.

Nurse:
It was exciting. It was something that we had never been asked to do before.

Driver:
I was blessed enough to be here and watch Rory interact with the family that we had on board was quite moving.

Rory:
Thank you so much, guys. Thank you.

Nurse:
It's ironic that it was the day before they shut down the tour. And our lives here in mobile health changed forever.

Driver:
When the pandemic happened, we shut down all our clinics and we became the first line workers. We were running the testing sites.

Nurse:
It's been the most difficult year of my life, but also the most rewarding. And I'm going to cry. I'm going to try not. Because I know when we got called to start testing, we didn't know what we were dealing with. It was like Groundhog Day every day.

Nurse:
And I would go home and I would isolate because we didn't know what we had, what we could spread to our loved ones. But we did it every day because we knew we had to. And when I got the call to offer to help, and I said, "Absolutely, that's what I became a nurse for so many years ago."

Speaker 6:
Next on the tee, from Northern Ireland, Rory McElroy.

Nurse:
We're just honored to be here. We're thankful for Rory asking us to be here on the Optum, having us. It's been such a different year from the last time we met Rory last year and we are just excited to be here and thank you so much.

Driver:
What an opportunity of a lifetime to walk within the ropes and to be with Rory, and extremely excited to be here.

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Rory surprises two frontline health care workers from St. Vincent's Mobile Health Unit by inviting them to follow him inside the ropes.

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Thank you to all health care workers on the front lines

Optum Health Ambassador, Rory McIlroy, is thankful for the dedication and compassionate care all health care workers are making during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the TaylorMade Driving Relief golf match supported by UnitedHealth Group, Rory surprised Penny Palmer, Optum nurse practitioner and avid golfer from New York, with a video call. Rory expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the extraordinary care and commitment she has demonstrated during this trying time. 

The charity golf match raised a total of 5+ million in donations with $3 million going toward the American Nurses Foundation and CDC Foundation. Both Optum and UnitedHealth Group are committed to fight COVID-19 and support impacted communities around the world.

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Rory: “Hi Penny”

Penny: “Hi Rory”

Rory: “I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything you and your colleagues are doing right now. People before this pandemic I think looked up to people like me and people who play sports and entertainers but the people they really should be looking up to are the people like you. So I just wanted to say thank you so much for fighting on the front lines and keeping people safe and saving lives.