Strutting his stuff

IT may sound daft for the bookmakers to make Rory McIlroy favourites for next week’s British Open at Turnberry. But that’s the kind of impression the 20-year-old has made on the golf world. He spoke to golf correspondent Charlie Mulqueen.

IT IS common knowledge by now how Rory McIlroy showed conspicuous and remarkable aptitude for golf from his youngest days, perhaps not quite in the same mould as Tiger Woods, but pretty impressively for all that. Everything progressed as smoothly as expected until he qualified for the 2007 Open through one of his many outstanding achievements as an amateur — victory in the previous year’s European Championship in Italy.

The manner in which he took full advantage ensured that McIlroy, then a callow youth of 18 years, became the centre of attention for the world’s media, who marvelled not just at his wonderful golf game but also at the superb manner in which he handled himself off the course. It was a week he will never forget and one on which he looks back now with justifiable pride, while quickly underlining how times have moved on at a frantic pace over the intervening 24 months.

“Obviously I’m going into this Open with an entirely different mindset,” he says. “In 2007, I was on a high after coming off winning the European Team Championship with Ireland. I went out the first day and shot 68 and played very well. It was a fantastic week for me. It was my first major and my first British Open and I took an awful lot from that. It gave me great confidence knowing I could do it at the top of the professional ranks. I played with Scott Verplank in the final round and finished with a birdie at the 18th, a hole that was to cause Pádraig and others so much pain later in the day. That was a big thrill.”

Rory was the only amateur to qualify for the final two rounds and so the coveted silver medal was assured with a couple of days still to go. And at the end of all that, he stood beside the new champion Pádraig Harrington and enviously eyed up the famous Claret Jug that his fellow Irishman was embracing.

“I thought to myself ‘if I practise hard enough and work hard enough and play as well as I know I can, there is no reason why I can’t go ahead and do the same’. Ireland is such a small country and there are so many good golfers coming out. It is very encouraging to see someone like Pádraig go on and win three major championships.

“I’m more mature now and more in control of my emotions. I am more in control of my game and I have just gained a lot of experience. That’s probably the biggest factor. I have put myself in positions on the golf course where I haven’t had that knowledge before.”

It’s McIlroy’s innate confidence and self belief, combined with courtesy and good manners, that strikes you most. These characteristics have helped to develop him into a wealthy young man capable of casually splashing out €450,000 last week on a new Ferrari (“I have always wanted one”) and make light of the insurance bill for €5,000.

“Yes, confidence has everything to do with it and I also think one of the major factors was that when I got into the top 50 in the world, I started to play with a lot of better players,” he mused. “I remember playing in the Singapore Open last year and while I wasn’t in the top 50 then, I played with Ernie Els for the first time. I reckoned there wasn’t that much difference between myself and the way that Ernie played. He’s at the top of the game for decades and I thought to myself, ‘I know what I have to work on and if I can work on these things I can get even better’. It was playing with better players and realising I wasn’t that far away and then came the confidence of knowing I was a top 50 player and could still improve.”

Ask Rory what he does best and he’ll hesitate before answering. He is loath to denigrate any part of his game, as if to do so would be to concentrate on the negative. ! Eventually he suggested: “Probably in a way, my ball striking is a very strong part of my game. But my inner belief in myself and my confidence is probably the strongest aspect of my game.

“I believe in myself 100%. When I arrive on the first tee in a tournament, I believe I am going to be very close to winning the event. I probably didn’t have that starting off in my professional career. It was something I did have as an amateur and that is probably why I won so much. It is hard coming from the amateur circuit where you are like a big fish in a small pond and then you have to work your way back up again. Once you find your feet, you gain confidence and that is where the biggest strength of my game lies.

“Where does that come from? I go back to 2007 in Switzerland where I nearly won. I almost led that event from start to finish until I threw it away in a play-off. Ever since, my results have got better until obviously I went on to win in Dubai. It comes from the end of 2008 and the start of 2009 where I finished in the top 10 eight times.”

Although it is premature to rate McIlroy one of the favourites at Turnberry, it is fair to suggest it will be disappointing if he doesn’t make his presence felt over the four days. Strangely for one who played almost all of his amateur golf by the sea, he would prefer calm conditions because of his high ball flight. “Turnberry is a course you have to drive it well on because the rough there now is really penal,” he warns. “It’s very challenging and there aren’t many birdie holes. There will be a lot of long and medium irons into par fours and there are only two par fives. But I liked what I saw. I’ve played there a few times in the past few weeks and realised if I drove it well, I’d give myself opportunities.”

Twentieth in the Masters (his first major as a pro), 10th at the US Open. And, of course, the amateur silver medal in 2007. Three majors… three immensely respectable performances. It seems McIlroy is ideally suited to the big occasion — a point he is intent on reinforcing on Scotland’s west coast next week.