The Leprechaun and the Green Monster

When Gary Player says “I’m excited to see him play” you realise what an impact tousle-haired Rory McIlroy has made on the world of golf.

Still just 20 McIlroy is the big catch landed by the organisers for this year’s Nedbank Challenge at Sun City from December 3 to 6.

There’s no doubt Tiger Woods would have liked the elf-like Ulsterman to play in his tournament and Player admitted what everyone was thinking when the field for the Nedbank was revealed: “I’ve never seen him swing a club but when a man such as Mark O’Meara, Tiger’s biggest friend, says he’s better at his age than Tiger was when he was 20 I must tell you I can’t wait to see what he’s got.”

McIlroy, along with Korean Danny Lee (now resident in New Zealand) and Japan’s teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa, is considered to be the Sergio Garcia of his time – the young golfer most likely to provide some challenge to you-know-who.

It’s an unenviable mantle to be lumbered with, one which the like of Garcia, Adam Scott and Justin Rose have struggled to wear, but McIlroy has made the most promising of starts and is bound to draw quite a few eyeballs away from the like of Retief Goosen, Angel Cabrera and defending champion Henrik Stenson.

Like Tiger there were early indications that he might be a good golfer with a parentally recorded 40-yard drive he hit as a two-year-old included in every biography you can find of him. His first hole-in-one came when he was just nine and he played in his first professional European Tour event as a 16-year-old in 2005 at The Forest of Arden.

His amateur record established him as Ireland’s best golfer, he won the European Amateur Championship, became the second player to listed as No1 after the R&A established a ranking list for amateurs and announced himself to the wider world with an incredible, bogey-free, best-round-of-the-day, three-under 68 on the first day of the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie.

He went on to tie for 42nd position and accept the Silver Medal as leading amateur – alongside fellow-Irishman Padraig Harrington (even though he is from the south!) who was, of course, receiving the Claret Jug – and the boy with the impish face and bad haircut had arrived.

Rory immediately turned professional, at the age of 18, and went on to make the cut in his first event at the British Masters, and finished third in his second pro tournament, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. These successes earned the teenager enough money to virtually assure his place in the top 115.

At the beginning of the 2009 season McIlroy was beaten in a playoff for the Hong Kong Open title - a performance that elevated him into the top 50 in the world rankings and assured him a coveted place in the 2009 Masters.

He was up and running and his maiden victory came in the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic where he endured a nailbiting final hole and ultimately beat Justin Rose to the title by one shot.

He is now up to 16th in the world rankings and, even though he is not yet on the radar on the US PGA Tour as a non-member (a situation that will not take long to be rectified) he has gone from 95th in 2007, to 36th in 2008 and currently third in 2009 on the European Tour’s order of merit and has already accumulated winnings in excess of €3-million – a fine state of affairs reflected by this recent entry on his blog.

“I've also been doing a bit of major shopping recently and have purchased a couple of new cars! I decided to follow in the footsteps of a certain Mr D Clarke (fellow Northern Irishman Darren) and buy a Ferrari - it's an F430 in gun metal grey and it's absolute class. I went to Birmingham with my Dad to collect it and we drove it up to Stranraer and then on the Ferry to Belfast - a seriously exciting day! I've always wanted one and always said to myself if I did really well then I'd get one - and I have to say it's pretty amazing to have realised that dream. I've also picked up an Audi RS6 in red which is an estate type car and has enough room for Theo! (his dog).”

Yep, just a normal 20-year-old you might say!

However he clearly possesses abnormal talent and the Nedbank Challenge, with its big crowds, vibrant atmosphere and ‘feel’ of a Major, is sure to be another tricky corner on the road to the top so few have managed to navigate.

By all accounts he is a most equitable lad with all the charm of the Irish and, to be sure, he is a most welcome addition to the field Sun City – a line-up which, having been stripped of some of the old faces, feels more exciting than the recent past.