Rory McIlroy, Matteo Manassero, Seung-yul Noh and Ryo Ishikawa in Accenture Match Play Championship
Young players like Rory McIlroy, Matteo Manassero, Seung-yul Noh and Ryo Ishikawa are all set to tee off at the picturesque Ritz-Carlton golf course for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Wednesday. Their fierce competitive spirit and dynamic play
will add some excitement to the tournament this year.
Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, started his professional career in a rather classic manner when he was just 19. It was two years ago when he introduced himself in the world of professional golf, as he was the number one in the Amateur Golf Rankings.
McIlroy played in his first tournament of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he finished in third place. He then went on to being the youngest member to earn a European Tour card. Rory earned a good amount in the first year of playing as a professional,
as his brilliant performances in 2007 took him to the top 200 of the golf rankings.
McIlroy has since added a few top-10 places and a Professional Golfers Association Tour victory under his belt. He is currently ranked at seventh in the World Golf rankings. McIlroy is now a motivational figure for the youngsters playing on the PGA Tour
and the European Tour. His past record in 2009 was impressive, as he finished tied for the fifth spot, but did not play well last year as he finished tied for 17th place.
The young rising star of Italy, Matteo Manassero who is just 17 years old, is the youngest professional to win on the European Tour. He has been an inspiration for the young amateur golfers playing in the circuit in Italy. Another mentionable name is that
of Asia’s number one Seung-yul Noh of Korea, who is also enjoying his teenage life playing golf. This will be Noh’s debut in the WGC-Accenture Match Play, who is paired against world number two Martin Kaymer of Germany. Japanese Ryo Ishikawa, who turned out
to be a sensational golfer, already has 11 victories against his name playing on the Japan Tour.
McIlroy after completing his practice round said, "I played Matteo this morning and it’s hard to believe he’s in this tournament as a 17-year-old." He was pleased to see the number of young golfers playing in a major tournament like this. It clearly seen
that all these stars are below the age of 21.
The Gurus of golf are expecting that the youngster from Ireland will perform exceptionally well in tournament. He has learnt a lot from his fellow countryman Graeme McDowell who is very proud of Rory. McDowell on his twitter page also commented that his
pick for the Masters will be his compatriot McIlroy.
McDowell said in his interview about McIlroy, “His golf brain is young, but he makes up for it with a lot of talent and skill. And once the golf brain matures, and he keeps coming to golf courses like this, and Augusta, and Open golf courses.”
All the young golfers will be seen on the course playing against their respective opponents from 23rd Wednesday. Players like Rickie Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa and Matteo Manassero will be showing their class and ability on the course. These youngsters
can prove to be the next future stars. Mind you, these younger players will turn out to be difficult opponents, as they will not be giving away easy strokes.
The match to look forward to is between Noh of Korea and the world number two Martin Kaymer of Germany. This will be an interesting match, as some fierce competitive play is expected from both the players.
It will be exciting to see how these new young players manage to cope with the pressure of playing in a high profile tournament. Only time will tell to see how the new generation of players make an impact on the course.
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