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Before his season started, [[Tiger Woods]] invited McIlroy to play in the 2007 [[Target World Challenge]]. He declined the invitation though, saying, "I was thrilled that they would want to invite me considering I'm only just starting out on my career." McIlroy also said "That event clashes with the [[European Open (golf)|European Open]] and that's an event I would be stupid not to play".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/article3164485.ece }}</ref>
Before his season started, [[Tiger Woods]] invited McIlroy to play in the 2007 [[Target World Challenge]]. He declined the invitation though, saying, "I was thrilled that they would want to invite me considering I'm only just starting out on my career." McIlroy also said "That event clashes with the [[European Open (golf)|European Open]] and that's an event I would be stupid not to play".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/article3164485.ece }}</ref>


McIlroy started his [[2008 European Tour]] season at the [[UBS Hong Kong Open]]. He did not make the one-under cut though, missing it by four strokes. He shot a 69 in the 1st round and looked good to make the cut from there. McIlroy slipped up in the 2nd round though and shot a 74. This poor round made him miss his first cut as a professional.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/7097937.stm | work=BBC News | title=McDowell in contention after 66 | date=16 November 2007 | accessdate=22 May 2010}}</ref> He bounced back by finishing in a tie for 15th at the [[MasterCard Masters]] in [[Australia]].
McIlroy started his [[2008 European Tour]] season at the [[UBS Hong Kong Open]]. He did not make the one-under cut though, missing it by four strokes. He shot a 69 in the 1st round and looked good to make the cut from there. Ginger slipped up in the 2nd round though and shot a 74. This poor round made him miss his first cut as a professional.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/7097937.stm | work=BBC News | title=McDowell in contention after 66 | date=16 November 2007 | accessdate=22 May 2010}}</ref> He bounced back by finishing in a tie for 15th at the [[MasterCard Masters]] in [[Australia]].


McIlroy entered the top 200 of the [[Official World Golf Rankings]] for the first time on 27 January 2008.
McIlroy entered the top 200 of the [[Official World Golf Rankings]] for the first time on 27 January 2008.

Revision as of 23:24, 9 April 2011

Rory McIlroy
Personal information
Full nameRory McIlroy
Born (1989-05-04) 4 May 1989 (age 35)
Holywood, Republic of Ireland
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb; 11.5 st)
Sporting nationality Northern Ireland
ResidenceHolywood, Republic of Ireland
Career
Turned professional2007
Current tour(s)European Tour
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins2
Highest ranking1 (4 March 2012)[1]
(122 weeks)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT20: 2009
PGA ChampionshipT3: 2009, 2010
U.S. OpenT10: 2009
The Open ChampionshipT3: 2010

Rory McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland. He has represented Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. He had a successful amateur career, topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007. Later that year he turned professional and soon established himself on the European Tour. He had his first win on the European Tour in 2009, and on the PGA Tour in 2010. He has featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings and represented Europe in the Ryder Cup.

Amateur career

McIlroy was born in Holywood, Northern Ireland, where he attended Sullivan Upper School.[2] His home golf club is Holywood Golf Club. He started his early training with Michael Bannon, previously the Golf Professional of Holywood Golf Club, also his current coach and dedicated mentor.

McIlroy was a member of Europe's winning 2004 Junior Ryder Cup team.[3] In 2005 he became the youngest ever winner of both the West of Ireland Championship and the Irish Close Championship.[4] He retained the West of Ireland Championship in 2006 and followed that up with back to back wins at the Irish Close Championship. In August 2006 he won the European Amateur Championship at Biella Golf Club, near Milan, Italy. McIlroy won with the score of 274 (65-69-72-68). He won by three strokes over Englishman Stephen Lewton.[5]

In July 2005, McIlroy shot a course record 61 on the Dunluce links of Royal Portrush Golf Club.[6] In October 2006 McIlroy represented Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy and the Amateur World Team Championship. On 6 February 2007 he became the second man to top the World Amateur Golf Ranking, though he lost the top spot after just one week.[7]

McIlroy shot an opening round of 3 under par 68 at the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie which put him in a tie for third place, three shots off the lead. He was also the only person in the field without a bogey in the first round. He then shot a 5 over par 76 in round two to put him at +2 for the championship, comfortably making the cut. In the third round he shot a 2 over par 73. In the final round he shot a 72 (+1) to finish at T42. He shot +5 overall and was the highest finishing amateur, winning the silver medal.[8]

McIlroy was part of the Great Britain & Ireland team at the 2007 Walker Cup.[9] On the first day of the event he was paired with Jonathan Caldwell for morning foursomes and the match was halved. In the afternoon he faced Billy Horschel in singles but Horschel won 1 up. On the second day McIlroy and Caldwell lost in morning foursomes by the score of 2 & 1. In the afternoon he faced Billy Horschel in singles again and this time he won by the score of 1 up. McIlroy's overall record was (1-2-1) in Win-Loss-Tie format. In the end the United States came out victorious by a score of 12½ to 11½.[10]

McIlroy made his first appearance in a European Tour event a few days after turning sixteen, when he took part in the 2005 British Masters. He made the cut on the European Tour for the first time as a seventeen year old at the 2007 Dubai Desert Classic, where he had to forego prize money of over €7,600 due to his amateur status.[11]

Professional career

2007

McIlroy turned professional on 19 September, which was the day before the Quinn Direct British Masters. He signed with International Sports Management, a company that also manages Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Joost Luiten and David Howell.[12] At the British Masters, McIlroy shot 290 (+2) which put him in a tie for 42nd place.

McIlroy finished in 3rd place at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October. He finished three strokes behind the winner Nick Dougherty. Due to this performance, McIlroy put himself in position to become the youngest Affiliate Member in the history of The European Tour to earn a tour card.[13] The next week he secured his card for 2008 by finishing in a tie for 4th place at the Open de Madrid Valle Romano. On the 2007 European Tour season, he earned €277,255 and finished in 95th place on the Order of Merit list. He was the highest ranked associate member.[14]

2008

Before his season started, Tiger Woods invited McIlroy to play in the 2007 Target World Challenge. He declined the invitation though, saying, "I was thrilled that they would want to invite me considering I'm only just starting out on my career." McIlroy also said "That event clashes with the European Open and that's an event I would be stupid not to play".[15]

McIlroy started his 2008 European Tour season at the UBS Hong Kong Open. He did not make the one-under cut though, missing it by four strokes. He shot a 69 in the 1st round and looked good to make the cut from there. Ginger slipped up in the 2nd round though and shot a 74. This poor round made him miss his first cut as a professional.[16] He bounced back by finishing in a tie for 15th at the MasterCard Masters in Australia.

McIlroy entered the top 200 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time on 27 January 2008.

On 7 September 2008, McIlroy took a four shot lead into the final round of the Omega European Masters in Crans-Sur-Sierre, Switzerland but finished in a tie for first place with Frenchman Jean-François Lucquin after missing a four foot putt for par at the 18th hole in regulation that would have given him the outright victory. In the sudden-death playoff, both players parred the 18th hole, and in the second go-around, McIlroy missed a 1 1/2 foot par putt, giving Lucquin two putts for the victory. Lucquin subsequently holed his 15 foot birdie putt for the outright playoff victory.[17]

McIlroy finished the 2008 season having established himself in the top 100 of the world rankings and was ranked 36th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

2009

After finishing second in the UBS Hong Kong Open in November 2008,[18] McIlroy attained his highest world ranking position of 50, making him the youngest player ever to make the top 50. He finished the 2008 calendar year at 39th in the world rankings after finishing joint 3rd in the South African Open. This earned him an invitation to U.S. Masters in April 2009, only 18 months after turning pro. His first professional win came when he won the Dubai Desert Classic on 1 February 2009, this win took him to 16th in the world rankings.[19]

In the 2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, McIlroy reached the quarterfinals. In the first round he defeated Louis Oosthuizen 2 & 1, in the second round he beat Hunter Mahan 1-up, and in the third round he beat Tim Clark 4 & 3. He lost to Geoff Ogilvy (who won the tournament) in the quarterfinals, 2 & 1.[20] McIlroy continued to play on the PGA Tour until May and was successful in his first string of events on tour. He finished tied for 13th at the Honda Classic, tied for 20th at the WGC-CA Championship and tied for 19th at the Shell Houston Open.

In April 2009, McIlroy appeared at The Masters in his first major tournament as a professional and his first Masters Tournament. He finished the tournament tied for 20th place, two shots under par for the tournament. Of the players to make the cut, McIlroy achieved the third highest average driving distance, beaten only by Dustin Johnson and Andrés Romero.[21] McIlroy played in two more events on the PGA Tour after the Masters including his first appearance at The Players Championship where he was cut.

McIlroy then returned to Europe and recorded two top 25 finishes leading up to his first U.S. Open. He finished fifth at the BMW PGA Championship and 12th at the European Open. McIlroy played in his second major as a professional at the 2009 U.S. Open. His final round of 68 (-2) helped him finish in a tie for 10th, his first top ten finish in a major. The following week, McIlroy finished in 15th at the BMW International Open. McIlroy played in his first Open Championship as a professional in July and finished T-47. He finished T-3 at the 2009 PGA Championship, his best result in a major to date.

McIlroy finished the 2009 season ranked second on the Race to Dubai, behind Lee Westwood, and in November he entered the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time, the youngest player to do so since Sergio García. McIlroy finished 2009 ranked 9th in the world. In November 2009, McIlroy announced that he would join the American-based PGA Tour for the 2010 season.[22]

Gary Player praised McIlroy as the "most exciting young player in the world"[citation needed] and McIlroy accepted an invitation from Player as the tournament host to participate in the 2009 Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, South Africa in December. McIlroy withdrew from the 2009 Nedbank Golf Challenge after feeling unwell.

2010

McIlroy made a good start to 2010 by finishing 3rd at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. McIlroy failed to defend his title at the 2010 Dubai Desert Classic after shooting a round of 73 to finish in a tie for 5th place.

In the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, McIlroy beat Kevin Na 1-up in the first round and then lost on a playoff hole to Oliver Wilson. After the Accenture Match Play Championship, McIlroy took time off from golf due to a sore back.

After a 2 week break McIlroy returned in the 2010 Honda Classic and finished in a tie for 40th.

On 2 May, McIlroy recorded his first PGA Tour win after shooting 62 in the final round of the Quail Hollow Championship. The round set a new course record, and concluded with six consecutive scores of three. He became the first player since Tiger Woods to win a PGA Tour event prior to his 21st birthday.[23] On June 2, McIlroy played at the Memorial Skins Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus. McIlroy played with Tiger Woods, who some compare him to. McIlroy came in T10 at the Memorial Tournament, also.

On 15 July 2010, McIlroy confirmed his status as a favourite for the Open title on the Old Course at St Andrews by shooting a 9-under-par 63 on the opening day, the lowest ever first round score in the 150 year history of the Open Championship, and tying the course record. He missed a putt on the 17th, "The Road Hole", that would have given him the outright record. McIlroy caught the bad weather conditions on Friday and shot 80. He shot 68-69 on the weekend to get a T3. His tied 3rd finish in the 2010 Open Championship sent him to a career high World Ranking of 7th.

McIlroy missed out on a chance to win the 2010 PGA Championship when he three-putted the 15th green to fall out of a tie for the lead. His birdie putt narrowly missed the hole to leave him a shot out of the playoff between Bubba Watson and eventual winner Martin Kaymer. McIlroy finished tied for third, his third top-three finish in a major.

On 4 October, McIlroy won a crucial half-point to help Europe regain the Ryder Cup.

A little over a year earlier, he dismissed golf's blue ribbon event as an "exhibition", placing it way down on his list of career priorities.[citation needed] However, after sending the crowd on the 18th hole into raptures with a nerveless five-foot putt against Stewart Cink to draw the match, the 21-year-old revealed: "I would not have said this a year ago, but this is the best event in golf by far."[citation needed] Following the Ryder Cup, he announced in November that he would return to play full-time on the European Tour, although he also stated that he would continue to play 11 or 12 tournaments in the U.S. per year. He attributed the decision to having closer friends on the European Tour, his part in the Ryder Cup victory, and wanting to be nearer his girlfriend and family.[24]

2011

On 7 April, McIlroy shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 in the first round of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia to take the lead after the first day of the four-day competition. It was just his seventh round in competition ever on the course. He is the youngest player to ever lead the Masters at the close of the first day. At the end of the second day of play McIlroy led with a 10 under par score, leading Jason Day in second place at 8 under par. By the end of day 3, McIlroy finished 12 under par, 4 strokes ahead of four other challengers.

Personal

On 18 March 2011, McIlroy was photographed by Kevin Abosch for The Face of Ireland project.[25][26]

Amateur wins (5)

  • 2005 West of Ireland Championship, Irish Close Championship
  • 2006 West of Ireland Championship, Irish Close Championship, European Amateur Championship

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner-up
1 2 May 2010 Quail Hollow Championship -15 (72-73-66-62=273) 4 strokes United States Phil Mickelson

European Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner-up
1 1 Feb 2009 Dubai Desert Classic -19 (64-68-67-70=269) 1 stroke England Justin Rose

European Tour professional career summary

Season Starts Cuts Made Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10 Top 25 Earnings (€) Money list rank
2007 4 4 0 0 1 2 2 277,255[27] 95[14]
2008 27 16 0 1 0 6 10 696,335[28] 36[29]
2009 25 24 1 3 3 14 18 3,610,020[30] 2[31]
2010 16 16 0 0 3 9 11 1,821,050[32] 13[31]
Career* 72 60 1 4 7 31 41 6,240,798 45[33]
  • As of 28 November 2010.

Results in major championships

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
The Masters DNP DNP T20 CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP T10 CUT
The Open Championship T42 LA DNP T47 T3
PGA Championship DNP DNP T3 T3

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of performances

  • Played: 9
  • Won: 0
  • 2nd: 0
  • 3rd: 3
  • Top-10: 4
  • Top-25: 5
  • Missed cuts: 2
  • Most consecutive cuts made: 5

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament 2009 2010 2011
Accenture Match Play Championship QF R32 R32
Cadillac Championship T20 T65 T10
Bridgestone Invitational T68 T9
HSBC Champions 4 5

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Equipment

  • Driver- Titleist 910 D2 Shaft: Rombax 7V05 Loft: 8.5
  • Fairways- Titleist 909 F2 13.5°, 906 F2 18°
  • Irons- Titleist 710 MB Forged Irons 3-9 '
  • Wedges- Titleist Vokey Spin Milled Wedges 46, 54, 60
  • Putter- Scotty Cameron Studio Select Fastback (Prototype) for Titleist
  • Ball- Titleist ProV1x

[1] May 2009 Bag Shots and WITB with Donal Hughes, Irish Examiner with thanks to Titleist, Fairhaven, Mass

Swing Sequence

[2] filmed at the European Open, London Club, Kent, England

References

  1. ^ "Week 09 2012 Ending 4 Mar 2012" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  2. ^ Elliott, Bill (22 July 2007). "As Woods slips, the steel of Europe is revealed". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  3. ^ http://www.pga.com/news/pganews/pgaofamericatournamentnews/jrryder091204.cfm
  4. ^ http://indigo.ie/~kands/kands/html/rorclo.html
  5. ^ http://www.ega-golf.ch/040000/documents/ResultsAmateur2006_000.pdf
  6. ^ "Golfing sensation sets new record". BBC News. 13 July 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  7. ^ http://wagr.randa.org/default.sps?pagegid=%7B06E33FA7%2DE1B5%2D4B0D%2DAE14%2D292B34A25086%7D&newsid=401145&siteid=&pageno=&newscategory=12864&frommonth=12&fromyear=2006&tomonth=2&toyear=2007
  8. ^ http://www.pga.com/openchampionship/2007/news/mcilroy072207.html
  9. ^ http://www.walkercup.org/2007/news/gbiprofiles.html
  10. ^ http://www.thewalkercup.org/scores.sps?pageid=253
  11. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?pageid=127&pagegid=%7BAEFB93B0%2DEFF5%2D4C05%2DAB0F%2DFD08D947D944%7D&eventid=2007008&infosid=1
  12. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pageid=127&pagegid=%7BAEFB93B0%2DEFF5%2D4C05%2DAB0F%2DFD08D947D944%7D&eventid=2007080&infosid=3&pageno=1&reportid=59072
  13. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pageid=127&pagegid=%7BAEFB93B0%2DEFF5%2D4C05%2DAB0F%2DFD08D947D944%7D&infosid=3&eventid=2007084&reportid=59374
  14. ^ a b http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B7E944807-48EC-411A-B82A-D56203FDC915%7D&seasonid=76
  15. ^ http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/article3164485.ece. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ^ "McDowell in contention after 66". BBC News. 16 November 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  17. ^ http://www.omegaeuropeanmasters.com/en/competition/result.php?round=4
  18. ^ http://www.ubshongkongopen.com/2006/en/news.php?news=136
  19. ^ http://www.owgr.com/NEWS/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=6626319&itype=421
  20. ^ http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/82/37/scorecards/2009/r470.html
  21. ^ http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/stats/drives_avg.html
  22. ^ Reason, Mark (18 November 2009). "Rory McIlroy's self motivating qualities makes him favourite for the Race to Dubai". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  23. ^ "Rory McIlroy breaks record to win maiden PGA Tour title". BBC Sport. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  24. ^ "Rory McIlroy to focus on European Tour rather than PGA". BBC Sport. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  25. ^ Rory Joins 'Face of Ireland Exhibition'
  26. ^ The Face of Ireland
  27. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B9D8C05D5-C670-4B56-9906-E18E922EB1D8%7D&playerid=34024&seasontitle=2007
  28. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B9D8C05D5-C670-4B56-9906-E18E922EB1D8%7D&playerid=34024&seasontitle=2008
  29. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B7E944807-48EC-411A-B82A-D56203FDC915%7D&seasonid=79
  30. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B9D8C05D5-C670-4B56-9906-E18E922EB1D8%7D&playerid=34024&seasontitle=2009
  31. ^ a b http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B7E944807-48EC-411A-B82A-D56203FDC915%7D&seasonid=82
  32. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=%7B9D8C05D5-C670-4B56-9906-E18E922EB1D8%7D&playerid=34024&seasontitle=2010
  33. ^ http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pagegid={E4DD9585-73A2-4C5E-A491-C88176509A7B}

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