It s the bookmakers you ve got to feel sorry for. There they were, packed up for the year, ready to enjoy a well-earned New Year s Eve after compiling yet another juvenile list of things that might happen in 2014.
And then came the tweets.
Rory and I started 2014 with a bang! ... I said YES!!!! posted Caroline Wozniacki on New Year s Day in Australia, where she is preparing for the first major of the season, the Australian Open, which starts on January 13.
Of course, a lot of couples like to start the year with a bang the kids tend to be still out or in a state of comatose, and ... but Woz and her golfer boyfriend Rory McIlroy don t have any children.
Why do birdies suddenly appear ...
Happy New Year everyone! came the slightly less ambiguous confirmation from McIlroy a sledgehammer blow of heart-breaking news to the hopes of golfdiggers on greens and fairways across the world.
It included a picture of Wozniacki sporting the kind of ring that wouldn t look out of place on a severed finger in a Guy Ritchie film.
I have a feeling it s going to be a great year!! My first victory of 2014 #shesaidyes!!
The engaged couple have been seeing each other since 2011, and twice last year, apparently authenticated stories surfaced that they were splitting up.
The game-changer name-changer
It remains to be seen whether Wozniacki will change her surname once they marry. But it probably won t be to mesh their names into the rather hackneyed Wozzilroy, the couple s nickname in the media since they started going out.
There s always the Christ Evert-Lloyd tactic: adopt your husband s name, but keep your own just in case things don t work out.
It s a dilemma and worthy of a new betting list for 2014. So maybe this marriage won t be a total loss for the bookmakers after all.