RORY McILROY INTERVIEW: Philip Reidtalks to a 19-year-old phenomenon after his impressive victory over Justin Rose in the Dubai deserts on Sunday
THE EVIDENCE of Rory McIlroy’s inexorable rise in golf hangs like a picture essay around the walls of Holywood Golf Club, just outside Belfast. There are the scorecards recording the various course records he achieved at Royal Portrush; a signed replica flag from the British Open at Carnoustie in 2007 where he was leading amateur; a photograph of the hometown hero in Walker Cup mode, and a framed photocopy of an old newspaper article relating his achievement in winning the world juniors as a nine-year-old.
If McIlroy has his way, the wallpaper will – over the coming months and years – be covered with yet further proof of his golfing genius.
Yesterday, dressed in jeans and a “Calisurfco” hoodie, the 19-year-old – winner of last week’s Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour and up to 16th in the world rankings – made the short trip up the hill from his new house to his old golf club and provided a self-analysis of where he has come from and where he is headed. Not surprisingly, a major title, at some stage, is the prize that most appeals.
“My wish for the year? To win a major. Any major. In fact, I’d just take another win. But if I had to pick one (major), it’d be the Open. That would be awesome. You can nearly see Turnberry from here. It is only 40 miles away. It would be nice to keep that run going – Harrington, Harrington . . . keep the claret jug in the country for another while.”
McIlroy’s return home to Holywood after his Dubai victory has allowed him to let it all soak in. Just 16 months a professional, he has already achieved more than journeymen pros do in a lifetime on tour. A tournament win. Over €1.5 million in prize money. Lucrative corporate deals. But, then, he was never destined to be a mere bit player.
Still, his laidback approach has him leading as normal a life as any teenager can do. On his return home on Monday, his first duty – after leaving his clothes with his mother to wash – was to go out shopping in Sainsbury’s because his fridge was empty, and the next was to catch up on missed episodes of the TV show 24. And there is no desire, as yet, to get a haircut on curly locks which have not seen a barber’s scissors since last September. Five months of growth has given him a superstition as well as locks that have become a trademark.
And, with a first professional title packed away, even if the sizeable trophy itself was left behind in Dubai, McIlroy – who aims to get to Croke Park on Saturday for the Ireland-France rugby match – believes that his game can get even better.
“Everything can get better. I can hit more fairways. I can hit it closer. But I think my short game (more so). If I can improve my scrambles and get it up and down a few more times, because I do hit a lot of greens. If I am able to get up and down when I do miss greens, I won’t be making that many bogeys. That’s probably the one aspect of my game where I can improve quite a lot.”
For sure, McIlroy has shown an ability to learn fast. Losing two play-offs late last year – to Jean Francois Lucquin in the European Masters in Switzerland in September and to Wen-tang Lin in the Hong Kong Open in November – would have impacted negatively on many players. McIlroy took them as a positive, something to put into the memory bank and to turn to his advantage.
“The defeat in Switzerland helped me a lot . . . I was able to look back on it and see where I went wrong. I rushed. I rushed into everything. I was very quick (to make the putt) and on Sunday in Dubai I took my time over the putt at the last. I composed myself, took a step back . . . and it was great to get over the line because I had a big lead and it sort of dwindled away over the last couple of holes and it was nice to get up and down.”
He added: “With all the experiences that I’ve had, you do get mentally tougher and you do know what to expect. Like, I was expecting Justin (Rose) to make that putt on the last (in Dubai). I was just saying to myself, ‘this is just for par, it is not for a play-off’. But when he missed, it was a huge relief and I was able to knock it in. All these experiences that I have had have definitely made me mentally better able to handle the situation better.”
One area which has seen huge improvements over the past year is McIlroy’s putting. After last year’s Irish Open at Adare Manor, where he felt a number of missed birdie putts allowed the title to slip from his grasp, McIlroy turned to Paul Hurrion to work on his putting. Why Hurrion? “Because Harrington went to him, and Pádraig holes everything. I knew what way Hurrion taught. I knew the methods he liked using. It just made sense to go and see him.”
Hurrion changed McIlroy’s set-up, changed his grip. “He changed everything,” said McIlroy. “The way I was stroking it wasn’t (acceptable). I could get on a run and be very streaky. But I wasn’t consistent. It’s been very good the last few months. My pace putting has really improved, (especially) holing out from six feet.”
The other change was switching caddies. Dubliner JP Fitzgerald – who carried for Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Ernie Els – took over from Gordon Faulkner as McIlroy’s caddie at the Scandinavian Masters last August and the pair have hardly looked back since.
An example of Fitzgerald’s input? On the 17th green of the final round in Dubai, Fitzgerald crouched down beside McILroy. “When I was reading the putt, he said, ‘big players love these situations. You’re a big player. This is why we are here’. It was great for him to say that. It just sort of calmed me down a bit. I think ever since JP has been on the bag, I’ve played really good. I think he has been a big part of the success I’ve had over the past few months . . . he is very involved, and hopefully he’ll be on the bag for a lot of years to come.”
McIlroy’s next seven tournaments will be in the US, starting with the Accenture matchplay in Tucson in two weeks. Ironically, ISM – his management company – had looked for an invite for McIlroy to play in the Los Angeles Open the previous week and he had even played the course on his Playstation to get familiar with it. However, the invite didn’t materialise and, now, McIlroy will kickstart his Stateside tournaments at the Accenture before moving on to Florida for the Honda Classic and the following week’s WGC-CA championship.
“Everyone says to me that my game would suit America and hopefully it does. I hit it quite high and quite long and everything suggests I should do pretty well out there. But it is uncharted territory for me, so we will see what happens.”
One of his stated targets is to break into the world’s top 10 this year. What will it require? He laughs, but it is not a comedian’s aside. He knows it is possible, even probable. “Well, if I win the matchplay in a couple of weeks time, that gets me up to fifth. That would be okay. So, I have been looking at it. I just have to go out and try and put myself in position to win on (the) Sunday. I think I’ve had eight top 10s in my last 13 starts, so if I can keep doing that and grinding out results, hopefully I can get into that top 10.”
And of course, down the road there are four majors that will take him to courses he has only ever seen on TV. Augusta, Bethpage, Turnberry and Hazeltine. And although he plans to pay a number of trips to Baltray as dry runs ahead of the Irish Open in May, there are no plans to pay any advance visits to the home of the US Masters despite the amount of time he will be spending in the States. “I’m trying to treat it as just a normal event, because you are playing against the same guys as I have been over the last how many months. It is only another golf course.”
Typical McIlroy, really; taking everything in his stride.
What's on Rory's iPod . . . .
Part of Rory McILroy’s pre-round routine is to listen to music on his iPod. “RB. Hip Hop. Funky House . . . all the stuff that is played in clubs.”
McIlroy's tour schedule for 2009
(* to be confirmed)
Week Ending March 1st– WGC Accenture Matchplay Tucson
March 8th– Honda Classic Florida
March 15th– WGC-CA Championship Doral
April 5th– Shell Houston Open Houston
April 12th– US Masters Augusta National
April 19th– The Heritage Harbour Town, South Carolina
May 10th– The Players Sawgrass
May 17th– 3 Irish Open Baltray
May 24th– BMW PGA Wentworth
May 31st– European Open London Club
June 21st– US Open Bethpage NY
July 5th– French Open Paris
July 12th– Scottish Open Loch Lomond
July 19th– British Open Turnberry
August 9th– Bridgestone Invitational Akron
August 16th– US PGA Hazeltine
*August 30th– Johnnie Walker championship Gleneagles
September 6th– Omega European Masters Crans
September 13th– Mercedes Benz championship Cologne
September 20th– British Masters England
October 4th– Alfred Dunhill Links championship Scotland
October 18th– Portugese Masters Villamoura
* October 25th– Valencia Masters Spain
* November 1st– Singapore Open Singapore
November 8th– HSBC Champions China
November 22nd– Dubai World Championship Dubai
