It was to be at Carnoustie in 2007 that Rory would really smash his way into the golfing limelight. Aged 18 and still an amateur, he would turn in a performance that would leave the public, the contestants and the media stunned – and transform him into an international golfing star. The prodigy had finally come of age: now there would be few who did not immediately recognise the name of Rory McIlroy.
The boy had always said he was aiming to win Majors, even from those early days when he filled out his own scorecard at Holywood Golf Club. Now he would lay down a marker for the future: ‘This is me, this is what I can do and there’s a lot more to come. I’m on my way!’
Already he had proved he was doing just that when he played in his first pro tournament at the 2005 British Masters as a 16-year-old and in 2007, when he made his first cut in a professional tournament. It happened at the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic in early February. Rory opened with back-to-back scores of 69, then shot 71 and 76 on the weekend. He finished tied for 52nd place: at the time, he was 17 years and 10 months old.
Now in Scotland, he was determined to enjoy The Open tournament and to do Ireland proud. This was to be his first Open and he would make the record books by becoming the first amateur from Northern Ireland or Ireland to make an Open cut since Joe Carr in 1965. During practice, Rory was all smiles, talking and shaking hands with spectators, but he put on his serious hat when the action began, knowing this was his moment. He was also realistic enough to know he wasn’t going to win the event – there was, after all, the little matter of a world-class pro field headed by the then legendary Woods.
The Tiger was hot favourite with the bookies to land his third consecutive Open title and it would be a brave man who bet against the American as he attempted to become the first player in 50 years to achieve that feat. If he won, Woods would be the first player to do so since Peter Thomson in 1954–56. Jamie Anderson (1877–79) and Bob Ferguson (1880–82) had also won three straight Open titles.
Tiger was confident this was possible although he knew he would need a bit of luck to pull it off and chalk up a 13th Major crown. ‘All I know is that I feel good about my preparation so far,’ he said in a press conference two days before teeing off. ‘I’ve got one more day to prepare and we’ll see how the tournament builds. If I continue doing the things that I’m doing – I like the way I’m swinging, I like the way my short game is, and I like the way my speed is on the greens so far – I just have to carry that into the tournament.’
Woods would play in Group 15, along with Paul Lawrie (who won The Open in 1999) and Justin Rose in the first two rounds, teeing off at 9.10am on the first day. Rory would be the 38th out on the green, with Miguel Angel Jiménez and Henrik Stenson, at 13.45pm.
But Carnoustie had been none too welcoming for Woods at the last Open held there in 1999. Then, he tied for seventh with a 10-over-par 294 but he claimed the previous flop in Scotland didn’t worry him and that he actually loved playing on links courses like Carnoustie: ‘I grew up on kikuyu grass golf courses and you never would bump and run a golf ball there. I thought it was neat to putt from 40 to 50 yards off the green, hit 5-irons from 135 yards and run the ball because the conditions dictate and it allowed you to do it as well. That to me was fun – I immediately just loved it. I just wish that we could play more golf on it, but you only get one time a year, basically.’
Ernie Els warned Woods and the new youngsters like McIlroy that it would not be easy to crack Carnoustie; that it was one of the most demanding courses in the calendar. He said: ‘It’s got length. It’s got great bunkering – you’ve really got to have your wits with you to play this golf course. It’s probably the best-bunkered course that you’ll ever find anywhere in the world. With the weather conditions and the way that the layout is, it’s a very demanding layout – you’ve got to play every shot in the bag. Every links shot you can think of, you get tested here. It’s got everything.
‘If we have wind like we did on Tuesday morning – conditions like that, or any kind of wind on this golf course – it just becomes a lot more difficult than you think. You really do have to hit the ball well here. The greens are extremely subtle – just like all links courses, they’re hard to read.’
So, the scene was set: it would be hard, it would be demanding and Rory would be up against a man determined to blitz the field and fire his way into the record books. But he remained confident and sure of his own ability; he also had an ambition of his own. He wanted to try and emulate Justin Rose who, as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998, pitched in at the last hole in The Open at Royal Birkdale, a shot that claimed him 4th place. And he also wanted to win the silver medal as the best amateur to make the cut.
Certainly, there were shades of Rose’s magnificent display as Rory got off to a flier on the first day at Carnoustie, carding a 3-under-68 to command a share of 3rd place. His flawless, bogey-free round meant he was just three shots behind leader Sergio Garcia and one to make up on Paul McGinley. Already he was the favourite to achieve his ambition of claiming the silver. That pleased him, as did the knowledge that he was a stroke ahead of his hero, Woods. Rory said afterwards: ‘It’s a pretty special feeling, finishing one better than Tiger and also out-shooting my playing partners. I was just trying to learn as much as possible from Miguel Angel Jiménez, who’s terrific, and Henrik Stenson, who’s won a world golf championship. Coming into the week, I just wanted to try to make the cut and win the silver medal.’
He also felt he was benefiting from a good build-up: ‘After the European Team Championships last week, I just went home, relaxed and tried to get my head around playing in The Open. I took a couple of days off and just relaxed, and then I practised Friday and Saturday. And then got here on Sunday and just had – well, two practice rounds, Monday and Tuesday, and then played the loop, the last four last night and Wednesday.
‘I played the practise rounds with some pretty good players as well. I played with Trevor Immelman and Niclas Fasth and Richie Ramsay. And I played four holes with Nick Faldo on Monday but it was a bit wet for him, so he went in. I tried to prepare, like any other tournament – just try and go out there, play your own game.’
Rory was also 11 strokes ahead of Nick Faldo, whose videos he had studied while growing up in Holywood, and four ahead of another one of his heroes and mentors: fellow Northern Irishman, Darren Clarke. At the news conference after the first day, Rory added: ‘[I] pushed both of them, but to play the toughest Open course with no bogeys is pretty good. I played really well out there. I was very nervous the first few holes. But when I birdied the 5th, I got in my stride and got going there, and played some really solid golf and probably should have birdied the 7th as well. But overall this was a really good day – I had been nervous at first, but then soaked up the atmosphere and really enjoyed it.’
And he thanked his supporters for helping him keep his cool that first day at Carnoustie: ‘It was just like a chill down the back of my spine with the ovation I got, it’s fantastic! Holywood Golf Club are just so supportive of me – it’s great to see so many people over. I think with their support it’s really helped me, not just today but throughout the year to get me where I am now. They’ve just been fantastic.’
At the press conference he was asked if he would be able to sleep that night, given Woods was breathing right down his neck, to which he replied: ‘Yes, I think I’ll be able to sleep all right. I’m knackered. But it’s just – yeah, it’s a pretty special feeling to say you shot one better than Tiger. And then to be playing partners as well, with Henrik and Miguel, it’s just awesome. Yeah, I’ll probably go home tonight and put my feet up, watch the highlights and then probably just go straight to bed. I’ve got a pretty early start in the morning – I don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleeping tonight.’
He added that Woods remained his hero and point-of-excellence reference: ‘From an early age Tiger Woods has always been my hero – like, he won the ’96 US Amateur and I think after that it was just Tiger, Tiger, Tiger. And he’s been my one big influence in my whole golfing life.’
Rory was also asked about his personal life – what he liked to do, and about when he had left school and with how many GCSEs. Laughing, he answered the throng of awestruck hacks: ‘A few [GCSEs]. I just started playing full-time amateur golf. The golf [authorities] in Ireland have been supportive – they’ve helped me tremendously and I’ve travelled all over the world at their expense, pretty much. And it’s great to have that support behind you. I’m pretty much a normal teenager. I like to go out and go to the cinema, try and think about golf as little as possible when I’m off the golf course and just try and lead a normal life. I think I’ve pretty much done that for the last 18 years. I’m a normal teenager, but I’m a pretty good golfer as well.’
There was no doubt about that last statement as he was proving beyond all measure at his first Open – although his caddie would claim he could have done even better in the first round! ‘He probably left a couple of shots out there,’ Gordon Faulkner told BBC Sport, ‘but it won’t bother him too much – his temperament is that good. He’s about 15 years ahead of where he should be when it comes to the mental side of golf.’
Meanwhile, his parents were simply delighted that their boy had done so magnificently. ‘It was an incredible day,’ said Rosie McIlroy. ‘Totally above all of our expectations.’ Although dad Gerry said he wasn’t so surprised as his boy had ‘been playing really well of late.’
After his first-round exploits, Rory did indeed sleep well and was back on the green bright and fresh the next day. This time, it would not be quite so eye-opening a round, but still impressive: he slipped back down the field after a 5-over-par 76, bogeying the 2nd and dropping three more shots before birdies at the 12th and 14th put him back in business.
Later, he was a little bruised but still proud of his efforts (a 2-over-144), saying: ‘To be sitting at plus four isn’t too bad. If I can go out and shoot a score like Chris DiMarco did, the Top 10 is well within my reach. I want to play in this next year and the easiest way to do that is to finish in the Top 10.’
And the really good news was that as the only one of the field’s six amateurs to make the cut, Rory was now guaranteed the silver medal he so craved. ‘I just wanted to go out there and try my best, play golf and enjoy it – and that is what I did today,’ he explained afterwards. ‘I didn’t get upset with bad shots.’
Once again he paid tribute to the fans cheering him on and encouraging him at every hole. ‘The interest has been pretty big,’ he admitted. ‘There were a lot of TV cameras following me and it was nice to play in front of crowds like that. I wasn’t too nervous today – I was probably more pumped up than nervous.’
In Saturday’s third round Rory continued his solid form, going round in a 2-over-par 73. He said he was pleased with his day’s work and was now looking forward to the final round on the Sunday – and being presented with the silver medal.
It would prove a day of double celebration as his friend and fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington lifted the trophy after a playoff with Sergio Garcia.
Both players made errors on the 18th as Harrington hit a double-bogey 6 and Garcia followed him with a bogey. With the scores tied at 7-under, the pair went into a four-hole playoff. Harrington went two shots clear at the first hole after Garcia landed his second shot in the bunker. They then parred the next two holes before Harrington went on to win by one shot. Harrington said: ‘It’s obviously too good – it’s a lot to take in. I tried not to get ahead of myself but it’s all coming in now.
‘I think if I’d lost it would have been very hard to take, but I didn’t allow myself to get down about taking six at the last. But I convinced myself all along I was going to win and that if it was a playoff, I could win that.’
Argentina’s Andres Romero finished third on 6-under after he holed 10 birdies on his way to a 4-under-par final round of 67.
And Rory? Well, he finished with a final round of 72, for a 5-over-par total of 289, which placed him tied 42nd on the final leaderboard. A highly creditable end to his first Major – one he had challenged for, let’s not forget, while still an amateur. He was ‘overjoyed’ when presented with the silver medal but admitted to friends that he felt ‘a bit knackered’ emotionally, physically and mentally after his exertions, telling them he now planned to take a well-deserved holiday in Dubai. ‘It’s been a pretty draining week for me, obviously, with all the attention,’ he conceded. ‘It’s more mentally out there, because you have to hit a good shot all the time. It’s difficult to do that for 72 holes, and early starts and getting home late and stuff, but it’s been great and I’ve really enjoyed it.’
On the night itself, however, he was all for a local celebration in Scotland: ‘I might go out into Dundee. I’ve got a few of my friends that are staying over there this week, so I might go out for a while tonight.’
At the press conference after proceedings had been wrapped up, he also revealed a little more on his thoughts about his first Open. He started off by admitting that winning the silver medal had made it all worthwhile even though he was disappointed not to finish in the Top 10: ‘That [the silver medal] was my goal at the start of the week and then after my good first round, I said to myself to just finish in the Top 10. But I obviously didn’t do that. But overall I’m really happy – to end the week with a birdie on the last was pretty special.
‘Hopefully it’s the shape of things to come. I think I’m getting better all the time, progressing as a player. Hopefully I’ve got a few more Open championships in me. I think it’s a great performance – first Major, first Open championship – and hopefully, I can go on to bigger and better things.’
Asked if he would change his approach work to hitting the ball (which several analysts had commented on) and maybe slow it down a little, he said: ‘I’ve always been quick and that’s just the way I play. I just think – I stand up, look at the shot, assess it, know the shot I’m going to hit, and I hit it. I don’t mess about. I think my short routine is OK. I have a couple of practice swings, visualise the shot, feel it, see it and do it, and let it go. That’s pretty much the easiest way to play for me. There’s no point in taking time over things because you just confuse yourself so I stand up, look at the target and hit it. That’s the way I’ve always been.’
Finally, did he think he could one day win The Open?
He smiled and nodded towards the players out on the green, who were still continuing their final round, including the then leader Sergio Garcia. Rory said: ‘Sergio is out there at the minute and he’s played in an Open as an amateur before. And look where he is now: he’s leading The Open championship. And he was in the last group last year, and he’s had a lot of good performances. So if I can progress over the next few years and keep improving, I certainly think I can be contending for an Open – hopefully in the near future.’
Certainly he was now not the only one of that opinion. Analysts, fans and fellow players around the world all nodded in agreement. Respected golf writer Gary Van Sickle of Sports Illustrated made the point that not only had Rory made his mark – he had made his mark as someone whose name could even be muttered in the same whispered tones of reverence as Tiger Woods’, given the similarities in determination and early success at The Open: ‘The crowd was thick around the practice green at Carnoustie last Saturday morning, which should’ve been a tipoff that something was up. Yet Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, a slight 18-year-old whose freckled, cherubic cheeks make him look more like 14, eased past a pair of security guards and onto the practice area with the confidence of a veteran pro, dropped a couple of balls, then casually began stroking putts toward a cup near the one being used by Tiger Woods.
‘There was no exchange of pleasantries, eye contact or backward glances by Woods, who was hard at work in his office and apparently didn’t notice the pride of Holywood, a town of about 12,000 near Belfast. That made Tiger about the only person at the British Open to miss McIlroy, who would finish 42nd (with a 5-over-289) to win the silver medal as low amateur, an award claimed by Woods in 1996.’
Now Rory would turn pro and aim even higher. And the stars of golf had been warned: there’s a new kid in town and he is a genius.