Rory McIlroy Hugged Amanda Balionis After Canadian Open Interview, Extra Smiley

Rory McIlroy looked extra cheerful during his sit-down with Amanda Balionis at the Canadian Open — and they even hugged after … a big deal since folks think they’re dating.

Here’s the deal … romance rumors have been flying for the past few weeks about the golf pro and the CBS Sports reporter — this after they’ve been seen seemingly getting cozy on PGA tours of late, not to mention the fact they’re both single … well Rory certainly is anyway.

Amanda is rumored to be on the outs with her hubby — and of course, Rory is divorcing his wife … which makes these pics TMZ Sports got of them on Sunday all the more interesting.

Check it out … these pics were taken at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Ontario — where the Open was being played … and where Rory did an interview with Amanda.

While everyone was checking out their body language during the interview — chock-full of smiles and giggling as it was — the photos we got here, which we’re told were shot right at the end of their on-camera chat, seem to tell more of a full story about their vibe BTS.

As you can see … Rory and Amanda were cheesing it up once the cameras stopped rolling … and the two of them even shared an embrace. No real PDA beyond that, though.

Like we said … people think these two are an item now, and while neither of them has addressed the speculation head-on … there have been reports they’re just pals/professional.

Hard to say if these pics prove the case either way … but it raises an eyebrow for sure.

Anyhoo … we’re sure the golf crowd will continue to speculate — fact is, they’re both good-looking (maybe?) singles … and they’re also in the same field … quite literally, a golf course.

If they are banging, they sure do make a hot-looking couple … we’ll say that at the very least.