Rory is pride of the County Down
Holywood’s hero returned to his roots with the trophy in tow yesterday and the new kids on the block turned out in their hundreds.
Everywhere you moved in the welcoming halls of the course that shaped a Major winner, the boys and girls of this petite town were there to catch a glimpse of one of their own.
In fact, Rory McIlroy is more than one of their own in this pristine corner of north Co Down. He is their own. And the respect is mutual.
“Rory is hosting his second annual fund-raising classic for the juvenile club here on August 19 and it sold out in just three minutes when the timesheet opened on Monday,” Holywood professional Stephen Crooks revealed as the kids abandoned the course to spend time with the young man of the moment.
“It is something Rory wanted to do to give something back to the club that gave him his start in golf and it is a huge success already.
“We have 180 juvenile members here and they idolise Rory.
“Thanks to him we already had a waiting list before his success at the US Open and now interest in golf amongst the young people all across Ireland, never mind just in County Down, is going to go through the roof.”
Like so many others patiently awaiting an audience with their hero yesterday, Crooks will get a chance to share a beer with the US Open champion as he chills out after Congressional and prepares for the British Open at Sandwich over the next three weeks.
“He will be exactly the same Rory who left for the US Open without the trophy,” added Crooks, successor to McIlroy’s coach Michael Bannon as head professional at the par 69 Holywood course.
“Nothing has changed him over the years. He is the same with the kids here as he was when he was a juvenile himself and that is typical Rory.
“He’ll be out and about in the next few weeks and nothing will be too much trouble for him.”
McIlroy’s success is already rebounding in a positive manner on those who play their golf on this side of Belfast Lough.
“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since the first round at Congressional last Thursday,” confirmed Crooks. “We’ve had people on from as far away as New Zealand and lots of calls from America and Canada.
“They want to buy anything with the club crest on it thanks to Rory. We’re out of hats, ball markers. You name it and they want it.”
Rory isn’t the only McIlroy with champion status in this neck of the woods.
The bar where his father Gerry once worked one of three jobs to keep his only child in golf balls, features a plaque listing the club champions over the years.
Uncle Colm won the award in 1990, dad Gerry followed in 1993, Rory matched their achievement in 2005 and Colm did it again in 2008.
“My name is there twice and Rory only has the one – but only because he had moved on to bigger and better things,” said uncle Colm as the world’s press vied for his attentions.
“Thanks to Rory, life is never going to be the same again for this golf club or for any of us. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Not for the first time, McIlroy made sure to thank all those who helped him along the way to Maryland when he returned with the US Open trophy and brought a town to a halt yesterday afternoon.
He answered every question, signed every autograph, confirmed himself and Holly are an item again, backed Northern Ireland as a potential British Open venue and even expressed the hope that his success can attract a sponsor for the Irish Open at Killarney, if not this year then in the near future.
In the short term he is going to grab some rest, watch some tennis and boxing and then prepare as best he can to see if it will happen all over again at Sandwich in the middle of July.
“It was great to get home on Tuesday night,” admitted McIlroy as the cameras stopped rolling on the hillside course that served as his sporting university for so long.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. Even when I woke up yesterday knowing that the trophy was sitting on the kitchen table, it was all very surreal.”
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