Play with Rory McIlroy in Killarney

Record-breaking US Open Champion Rory McIlroy will return to the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club for this year’s Irish Open, offering golf fans the thrill of a lifetime - to play alongside him in the tournament Pro-Am.

Ticket purchasers for this year’s event, to be played over the August Bank Holiday weekend, from July 28 – 31, will be able to enter a competition to win a place in golf’s newest and most exciting Major Champion’s Pro-Am Team on Wednesday, July 27.

Tickets are now available from www.europeantour.com/tickets with advance savings available on all season, daily and concession tickets. Junior fans, under the age of 16 and accompanied by a paying adult, will be granted free entry to the tournament. 

To enter the competition to play with Rory visit www.europeantour.com/tickets.

Now, one lucky fan will have the chance to get up close and personal with McIlroy by winning a place in his Pro-Am Team for what can only be described as the chance of a lifetime to play 18 holes with the runaway US Open Champion. In addition, the winner will receive free accommodation in a four star hotel for two nights (July 26 and 27)in order to soak up the entire Irish Open experience.

The 22 year old, who captured the US Open by a remarkable eight shots at Congressional on Sunday, is one of the biggest draws in golf and creates a huge buzz wherever he plays in the world. Nowhere was that more evident than the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club last year, as ‘Rory Fever’ swept through County Kerry and beyond as crowds flocked to see the young star in person.

“I’m really pleased to be able to offer someone a place in my Pro-Am Team at Killarney – hopefully people will like the idea of taking me on. I might even give them a couple of shots!”

McIlroy cannot wait to get back to Killarney as he bids to follow Padraig Harrington in 2007 and Shane Lowry in 2009 as home grown winners of their national Open. 

“The Irish Open is very high on the list of tournaments that I would like to win in my career one day,” said McIlroy.

“I think every golfer has a special place in his or her heart for their national Open and I am no different. To win in front of a home crowd is something we don’t get the chance to do that often, so I’d love to win the title.

“The event was a real success last year with so many people coming down to Killarney to support myself and the other Irish guys. Obviously G-Mac and Padraig were huge draws as well last year and I am sure it will be the same again this year.

“The Irish crowds are pretty amazing. They are unique in the way they get behind you and you always want to do well when you are playing in front of them.”

The competition closes for entries at midnight on Wednesday 20th July, 2011. European Tour Terms and Conditions apply. All entrants must be aged 16 and over on July 27, 2011 and in possession of an official handicap.

McIlroy Confirms Irish Open

McIlroy in 2010

The Irish Open has received a much-needed boost after US Open champion Rory McIlroy confirmed he will be playing in the event in August.

The tournament in Killarney is without a sponsor and the presence of McIlroy is sure to increase spectator numbers.

"Definitely, I will be playing the Irish Open later this summer," said the 22-year-old after securing his first major title at Congressional on Sunday.

However, McIlroy has pulled out of next week's French Open.

Fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell did the same after he won the title last year, preferring to let the biggest week of his life sink in rather than rush back into competition.

Whereas McDowell returned at the Scottish Open, though, McIlroy is now set to make the Open at Sandwich on 14-17 July his next start.

The Irish Open suffered a blow when previous backers, telecommunications company 3 pulled out of the sponsorship last November.

McIlroy, McDowell and Padraig Harrington played in the tournament last year when crowds of up to 40,000 watched the action on the Killeen course.

Rory McIlroy - Factfile

1989: Born on May 4 in Holywood, Co Down to Rosie and Gerry McIlroy.

1991: Hits a 40-yard drive at the age of two.

1998: Makes his first hole in one.

2004: Helps Europe win the Junior Ryder Cup.

2005: Becomes the youngest winner of the West of Ireland and Irish Close Championships before playing in his firstprofessional European Tour event as a 16-year-old at the Forest of Arden. In July, McIlroy shoots a course-record 61 on the Dunluce links at Royal Portrush, leaving the Walker Cup selectors red-faced after they controversially omitted him from the 10-man team for that September's match with the USA in Chicago.

2006: Retains both Irish amateur titles, and in August wins the European Amateur Championship in Italy. Represents Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy and the Amateur World Team Championship in October.

2007: May -- Makes the cut in a European Tour event for the first time at the Dubai Desert Classic. Has to forego prize money of more than €7,000 because of his amateur status.

July -- Hits the headlines with an opening three-under-par round of 68 in the British Open at Carnoustie. He goes on to tie for 42nd position, landing the Silver Medal as leading amateur. As he embraces the Claret Jug, Padraig Harrington quips: 'I'm just glad I managed to get my hands on this trophy before Rory -- he's going to win plenty of these".

September -- Plays on the Great Britain and Ireland team beaten by the USA at the Walker Cup in Royal County Down.

September 18 -- After topping the amateur rankings, McIlroy turns pro. The teenager then makes the cut in his first professional event at the Quinn Direct British Masters.

October -- Finishes third in his second pro event, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The following week, he secures his card for the 2008 season by finishing in a tie for fourth place at the Open de Madrid. He finishes 2007 in 95th place on the Order of Merit list.

2008: January 27 -- Enters the top 200 of the world rankings for the first time.

September 7 -- Takes a four-shot lead into the final round at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland but bogeys the 18th to tie with Jean-Francois Lucquin, who wins in a play-off. Finishes season in top 100 of the world rankings and ranked 36th on the Order of Merit.

November -- Finishes second in the UBS Hong Kong Open, and attains world ranking position of 50, making him the youngest player ever to make the top 50. A joint-third placing in the South African Open earns him a spot at the Masters in April 2009, only 18 months after turning pro.

2009: February 1 -- Wins first professional title at the Dubai Desert Classic (Left) by one shot from Justin Rose, lifting him to 16th in the rankings.

April -- Plays his first major as a professional at The Masters. He finishes the tournament at two-under in a tie for 20th.

June -- Makes his US Open debut and impresses, finishing 10th.

July -- Plays in first British Open as a professional. His final position is tied 47th.

August -- Achieves his best finish in a Major to date, tied third at the US PGA.

November -- After finishing second to Lee Westwood in the Race to Dubai, enters the world's top 10 for the first time.

2010: May 2 -- Secures first PGA Tour win with victory in the Quail Hollow Championship. His final-round 62 is a new course record. Becomes the first player since Tiger Woods to triumph on the PGA Tour prior to his 21st birthday.

July 15 -- Shoots a nine-under-par 63 on the opening day at St Andrews to lead the British Open. Rounds of 80, 68 and 69 see him end the tournament tied for third to rise to seventh in the world.

August 15 -- Ties for third in the USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

October 4 -- Wins a crucial half-point against Stewart Cink to help Europe win the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.

November -- McIlroy announces his intention to return to the European Tour in 2011.

2011: April 10 -- Leads by four strokes going into the final day of The US Masters, but implodes on the back nine at Augusta National, racking up a triple-bogey seven at the 10th, followed by a three-putt bogey at 11 and a four-putt double-bogey at 12, after which he pulled his drive into the water at 13. The heart-rending image of the Northern Irishman (Right) with his tousled head in the crook of his arm on that tee remains indelible in the memory of Irish golf fans ... as does the courageous and dignified TV interview the youngster did immediately after his round.

April 18 -- McIlroy shows the resilience of youth by finishing third behind Italian teenager Matteo Manassero in the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur -- his first event since his Masters meltdown.

June 5 -- After losing to best mate Graeme McDowell in the last 16 at the World Match Play and missing the cut on his title defence at Quail Hollow, McIlroy's morale gets a super-boost ahead of the US Open as he finishes in fifth place at the Memorial, giving a hot performance on the super-slick greens at Muirfield Village.

June 17 -- US Open records tumble on Friday at Congressional as McIlroy speeds to the lowest 36-hole total ever, 131 strokes, at the game's toughest championship. McIlroy becomes the fastest player to reach double figures under par when an eagle on eight moves him to 10-under through just 26 holes, 13 faster than Gil Morgan at Pebble Beach in 1992. He also plumbs lower than anyone at the US Open, 13-under, with his fifth birdie of the day at 17 and, despite a double-bogey at 18, equals the record lead of six strokes going into the weekend set by Morgan in '92 and matched by Tiger Woods, again at Pebble Beach, in 2000.

June 19 -- A third-round 68 establishes a record new low of 14-under-par at the US Open. His eight-stroke lead going into the final round is the second biggest in the history of the event -- the biggest lead after 54 holes was 10, by Woods, who won by 15 at Pebble Beach in 2000.

Courtesy Irish Independent

McIlroy to Join US Record Breakers

Rory still smiling at US Open

Fred Daly a Northern Irish professional won The Open Championship in 1947 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake and was the first player from the island to have won the event until Padraig Harrington in 2007 at Royal Birkdale – which he repeated in 2008. In that same year the Dubliner bridged the gap in the PGA Championship when at Oakland Hills he saw off the challenge of Sergio Garcia, and in doing so, became the first European to win the event since Tommy Armour in 1930. 

Daly was born in Portrush, County Antrim and was the professional at the Balmoral Club in Belfast when he won the Open. He died in 1990 and was not to see his feat emulated by Harrington. Or the feat of another Portrush born golfer, Graeme McDowell, who last summer made further history by ending the forty year drought at the US Open at Pebble Beach, repeating a feat last done by Tony Jacklin. This summer at the Congressional in Maryland it looks like there will be another Northern Ireland repeat with Rory McIlroy entering the final round of the US Open holding a record breaking eight shot lead. 

Like Harrington’s back to back Open wins, the Holywood golfer looks like he won’t let the grass grow after GMAC’s breakthrough last year, given the manner in which is he playing this week. 

Whatever is in the water in the North East part of the island should now be bottled as the conveyor belt of talent continues in the wake of the achievements of Darren Clarke, Ronan Rafferty, David Feherty, and the generations previous such as Jimmy Heggarty, back to the time of Fred Daly and Norman Drew. The current European Tour is alive and well with the magic of Gareth Maybin and Michael Hoey, and the likes of Gareth Shaw, Jonathan Caldwell and Simon Thornton, still chasing the dream. With Portstewart’s, Paul Cutler, looking set also to make the breakthrough from the amateur ranks in due course. 

For former Ryder Cup star, David Feherty, who has been resident in the US for a few decades now, the reasons behind all this talent may again prove beyond explanation as it did the last time he interviewed McIlroy at Quail Hollow in 2010 – after the 20 year old walked off the course with a record breaking round of 62. 

Although since that day the warnings have been coming in the majors with increased speed and it was no surprise he caused a stir at St Andrews with his opening round, or the improved consistency over three days at the Masters. 

With that Sunday in April still fresh in his mind McIlroy and his caddie JP Fitzgerald have been dreaming of the moment when they could set the record straight and Sunday at The Congressional it will no doubt happen. Which for the Americans though, such news will be another reminder that for another twelve months the US Open trophy will be everywhere but on the PGA Tour, adding to the departure of the Masters to South African Charl Schwartzel on the European Tour, and the fact that Martin Kaymer of Germany will return to Georgia to defend the PGA Championship later in the year at the Atlanta Athletic Club. 

If you add the Accenture World Match play title held by Luke Donald, and The Open held by Louis Oosthuizen and then the 2010 Ryder Cup by Europe, it is a momentary reminder that in the absence of Tiger Woods the American golf cupboards are currently very bare. 

But for the fans watching behind the ropes in Bethesda those global trophy battles will not matter, as they are seeing a scintillating display of golf from a Rory McIlroy that exudes everything that is good about the game – manner, poise, talent, enjoyment and a carefree swagger. A breath of fresh air from the over intensity, ill temper and swearing that has afflicted Tiger Woods in more recent years, which for younger fans watching must be more enjoyable. 

However the comparisons are closer between the two in other ways, given their precocious talent, and could be more so after Sunday as Woods won his first major at Augusta when he was 22 in 1997. So did Jack Nicklaus in 1962 when he won the US Open. 

Last May McIlroy turned 22 years of age and in collecting the trophy on Sunday is set to break those records and become the youngest ever winner. 

One imagines it is only the first of many.

Only Pundits Nervous About Rory

Some seven years ago Gerry McIlroy placed a four hundred pound bet at 500 to 1 that his son Rory would win The Open before he was 25 years old. Last July relaxing at the new St Andrew's Hotel his money would have looked safe on the Thursday evening, after his son carded an opening round 63. But it was not to be, although it might at Royal St. George’s next month, or Royal Lytham and St Annes next year. 

What is clear though, is that Gerry’s money is in good hands and by the time the Open returns to St Andrew's in 2015 the bet will have been well collected. Just a pity the original bet did not include a major as well given the performance at Congressional this week. From where most people stand it’s beginning to look like the Sunday medal at Holywood Golf Club in County Down, as the 22 year old devastates the record books and leaves YE Yang the nearest challenger six shots adrift. 

Funnily enough in the wake of the St Andrews second round 80 and a similar score in the final round of the Masters in April, the only things that seem nervous at the moment are the pundits. 

Over the past two days they have all been wriggling with fear as they mix words of caution with high praise, sprinkled with warnings to all that there are still two rounds to go. 

In April at Augusta Butch Harmon predicted that McIlroy would not win the Masters, and in fairness he was correct, even in some of the reasons he proffered. In the build up his analysis was all about the movement of the ball, “Rory hits the ball from right to left, so that’s the good news,” suggesting that McIlroy’s draw shape off the tee will benefit him on several holes, “but I’m not sure his short game is of the quality of some of the other players.” Credit to Harmon he predicted the ball flight correctly, if only the tenth tee on the Sunday when McIlroy planted his ball between two houses on the left side of the fair way. 

On Friday night in a one-on-one with David Murray of Sky Sports, Harmon was again preaching caution given there were 36 holes left to play, and the USGA were bound to make the course harder as the weekend went on. Although Rory found water on the 18th and dropped two shots as a result, the truth is the margin should really be eight strokes. And if this were Tiger at the height of his powers, and the legend of red shirt Sunday still held a sense of invincibility, then most of the world class field would be half packed by now and just playing for a place. Undoubtedly because of Rory’s high profile duff days the experts are perched fearfully of another Devon Loch moment. 

This moment came in the 1956 Grand National, when a horse called Devon Loch was racing the final stretch with a five-length lead, only to inexplicably jump into the air and collapse flat on its stomach with jockey Dick Francis unable to get the Queen Mother’s; horse, to complete the race. 

How the horse actually managed to do what it did remains unexplained to this day, which is completely unlike McIlroy's experiences at St Andrews and Augusta. Clearly, in his own mind he got out of the moment and his Friday TV interview at Congressional showed a man who is unlikely to make the same mistake again on the Bethesda course. Albeit he knows he will make others, as unfortunately Rory cannot played defensive golf as it is not his style. 

What the pundits like Harmon need to look at is the 1997 Masters Tournament when Tiger Woods won his first major championship with rounds of 70-65-67-69 leaving Tom Kite, the nearest challenger, 12 strokes behind. At the time Woods was 22 years of age, and his win of -18 broke the four-day tournament low record at Augusta. As we know, since that win Woods continued to write history amassing 14 major championships, and 71 PGA Tour events. 

The feat of Nicklaus in 1962 is also worthy of note as it heralded his arrival to the game, which he still dominates to today with an unrivalled 18 Major titles. 

That tournament was at Oakmont Country Club, near Palmer’s home, who at the time was the most popular golfer in the world. The young upstart chasing his crown was a brash Nicklaus, who was unpopular with the crowd, seen as badly dressed, slightly portly and far from the popular player he was to become in the years after. Despite being taunted by the crowd, Jack won the 18-hole playoff against Palmer – securing his first major at 22 years of age. 

Although there was little doubt entering the 1962 U.S. Open, that Nicklaus was going to have a good PGA Tour career, as he was the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] Championship winner, also a 2-time U.S. Amateur champion , with two previous U.S. Opens finishes of second and fourth place. But in the 1962 event he was in his rookie year as a professional, with no wins in 17 starts, and was not really expected to challenge the status quo – never mind win the event in Arnold Palmer’s back yard. But he did, no doubt to the surprise of the golf pundits of the time. 

It was Arnold Palmer, after losing the play-off, who perhaps uttered the most prophetic words about Nicklaus as he clutched the trophy, "Now that the big guy is out of the cage, everybody better run for cover." 

So started the era of the Golden Bear. 

So will start the era of Rory McIlroy in Bethesda this weekend.

Dylan Manning