At just two years of age, Rory McIlroy made a 40-yard drive that led to dreams of winning majors and someday becoming the number-one golfer in the world.
Those dreams started coming true nine months ago, when the 22-year-old from Holywood, Co Down smashed records on his way to an eight-stroke victory at the US Open.
And the latest was realised at the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida on 5 March, when McIlroy finally reached the top of the world rankings with his $1m tournament victory.
It wasn’t his first chance to grab to the top spot as victory at the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona a few weeks ago would have secured the honour, had he not been denied by Hunter Mahan in the final.
But there was no denying McIlroy a week later in Florida, where he became the first Irish golfer to top the rankings, and the second youngest to do so after Tiger Woods reached the summit at just 21.
He said on Twitter: “What a day! Very honoured and proud to be the worlds number 1 golfer! Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way!”
A recent run of consistency has rarely seen the Ulsterman outside the top five, and it’s this type of form that has brought his career earnings above €12m.
The mental strength McIlroy possesses seems more in line with that of a veteran of the game. To bounce back so quickly from a disappointing defeat in Arizona and to hold his nerve on the final day at the Honda Classic, when Woods made one of his famous charges, are signs of great maturity.
Woods himself showed signs that he is finally back to his best by shooting a PGA-career low 62 on the final day to finish two shots back on 10 under.
The key moment of the day came when McIlroy was on the 13th green. As he stood over a putt for birdie, a roar rang out from the 18th where Woods rolled in a putt for eagle to go within a shot of the Irishman.
But as he’s done so many times in the past, McIlroy immediately replied by sinking his own putt to open up a two-stroke lead once again before going on to finish 1 under for the day and 12 under for all four rounds.
McIlroy said: “I heard the huge roar and it definitely wasn’t a birdie roar. It was nice to have that two-shot cushion going into the last five holes after holing that birdie putt.”
The Holywood native did have some nervy iron shots on the final few holes but recovered every time from around the green, and subsequently finished number one in the scrambling statistics.
Another key to his triumph was how hot his putter was. He didn’t miss a putt inside 10 feet all day.
Now riding on the crest of a wave, the first major of the year might be coming just at the perfect time. The Masters at Augusta begins on 5 April, and it’s the one every golfer dreams of winning to get their arms into the famous green jacket.
McIlroy led by four going into the final day at Augusta last year, and has fond memories of the first 63 holes before disaster struck on the back nine on Sunday. He shot the worst round of the day, an 80, which turned a four-stroke lead into a ten-shot deficit behind the eventual winner, South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel.
Despite the final-round collapse, McIlroy plans to prepare for Augusta this year as he did last year.
“To be honest I’m approaching it similar. I’m taking three weeks off before the Masters to prepare,” he said. “I’ll go up to Augusta the week before and play a couple of practice rounds, and basically if I can do the exact same thing this year as I did last year for 63 holes, I’ll be doing okay.
“So hopefully I can do that again, and if I could get myself in that position, maybe finish it off a little better like I did today.”
