Rory McIlroy: A charismatic young golfer (part 2)
The achievements of 21-year-old professional golfer Rory McIlroy until 2008 were discussed in the previous part. Starting his professional career in 2007, it didn’t take very long for the Northern Irishman to make a mark in the sport.
The first event that Rory participated in 2008 was the UBS Hong Kong Open. Even though he didn’t make the cut in that tournament, McIlroy’s first round 69 was very impressive. The Hong Kong Open was hence the first tournament in which Rory missed the cut.
His poor performance in that tournament was however covered up, when he tied for 15th at the MasterCard Masters in Australia. That year, Rory also entered the top 200 of the Official World Golf Rankings on 27 January, 2008.
Later that year, Rory held a four-shot lead at the Omega European Masters in Crans-Sur-Sierre, Switzerland. In that tournament, McIlroy was very close to victory. Rory tied for first place with French golfer Jean-Francois Lucquin, and entered the sudden-death
playoff. The Irishman would have been the sole leader had he not missed a four foot putt for par at the 18th hole. In the playoff, Rory missed a 1.5 foot par- putt on the second hole. That slip gave the Frenchman two putts
for victory, and he rolled in a birdie to win the Omega European Masters. In his second year as a pro, McIlroy finished in the top 100 of the rankings, and was 36th on the European Tour Order of Merit. As mentioned in the
previous part, he was 95th by the end of 2007. Going from 95th place to 36th in just one year; now that’s called determination.
In 2009, McIlroy moved in to 50th place in the Official Rankings, and became the youngest player to achieve such a feat. His third place at the South African Open earned McIlroy an invitation to the US Masters. In February
2009, Rory also had his first professional win, when he won the Dubai Desert Classic. This win hoisted the talented player to 16th in the world rankings. In the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Rory reached the quarter-finals
but lost to Geoff Ogilvy. That year McIlroy did play some PGA Tour events, and finished decently in most of them. Rory tied for 13th at the Honda Classic, 20th at the WGC-CA Championship
and 19th at the Shell Houston Open.
In 2009 Rory also participated in his first major tournament, and tied for 20th place at the Masters tournament. Out of all the players, Rory achieved the third highest average driving distance. On his return to Europe, he had two top-25 finishes.
In the first US Open McIlroy participated in, he posted a final round 68 and hence achieved his first top ten finish at a major. That accomplishment however was overcome by his tie for third place at the 2009 PGA Championship.
His performance at the PGA Championship was his best major result until now. Rory then finished second in the Race to Dubai, and was the youngest player since Sergio Garcia to be ranked ninth on the World Rankings. That year, Rory also announced that he
would be playing on the PGA Tour in 2010.
Being a rookie on the PGA this year, Rory had an amazing season. He started off by finishing third at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. On 2 May, Rory earned his first PGA Tour event when he won the Quail Hollow Championship. Setting a course record, Rory
also became the youngest player since Tiger Woods to win a PGA Tour event before his 21st birthday.
In the Open Championship this year, McIlroy set the course and tournament record by posting a 9-under par 63 on the first day. The bad conditions on Friday caused the player to post an 80, and hence tie for third place at the Open Championship. This finish
however put McIlroy in seventh place in the World Rankings.
After his amazing performance in the Ryder Cup, Rory announced in November that he would play full-time on the European tour in 2011. Considering his amazing performances in 2010, a lot is expected form him in 2011.
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