Preferred Lies

YOUNG GUN BLAZES THE WAY IN DUBAI

By John MacDonald

Rory roars home to first Tour win

Look out America – Irish teenage sensation Rory McIlroy is coming your way.

After his thrilling one-stroke victory in the Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy has climbed to 16th in the official world golf ranking in less than 18 months as a pro.

At the end of August last year, he stood 172nd.

The boy wonder has achieved it without once stepping foot in the United States, but that is about to change.

McIlroy, just the sixth teenager to win a European Tour event and described as "a superstar in the making" by new Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, makes his World Golf Championships debut at the Accenture Match Play in Arizona during February. Then he travels to Florida and Texas, before heading to Georgia for the big one – his first Masters Tournament at Augusta on April 9-12.

Having thought a world top-20 spot was a reasonable target for the end of the year, not the first week in February, McIlroy admitted: "I'll have to reassess my goals.

"I've moved up a step. Success only makes you more motivated to try to do better – I realise I've become a very good player and I've got a lot of years to progress still."

Manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler has no doubts that the sky is the limit.

"He's golf's new superstar and the most exciting talent the game has seen since Tiger Woods charged on to the scene more than a decade ago," said the former European Tour player.

"He showed maturity beyond his years to beat a world-class field and claim his maiden European Tour triumph. It will, I am absolutely convinced, be the first of many – Rory is that good.

"Not that anybody should be surprised. I've been telling people for a long time now that a very special talent was emerging.

"I'll be very surprised if he isn't inside the top ten before the season gathers many more divots.

"Rory will have learned far more from his one-shot win over Justin Rose than if he had gone ahead and totally eclipsed the field as – it looked like he would for so long.

"That up-and-down from the back trap on the last hole to seal victory was nothing less than magnificent.

"It would have been hard enough in normal circumstances – but given what was at stake and the size of his lead no more than an hour earlier (five shots), it was simply breath-taking.

"It's a very sunny outlook – despite what we are flying back into."
After spraying champagne Lewis Hamilton-style at a party given in his honour by his main Dubai-based sponsors, McIlroy flew home with his proud parents and did indeed discover that not everything will run smoothly from now on.

Their flight from the Middle East managed to land despite all the snow in England, but the connection to Belfast was cancelled and they were eventually driven to Birmingham to fly home from there.
McIlroy’s victory was his eighth top-ten finish in his last 13 starts. That included two play-off defeats, and he was mightily relieved he did not have to go into a third.

Runner-up Rose, of course, began his pro career with 21 successive missed cuts. It took him almost a year to earn his first cheque on the course. McIlroy, still three months away from his 20th birthday, is already heading towards his second million.

Facts file

With this win Rory McIlroy secured his first European Tour his 46th Tour event and moves to second in the Race to Dubai with winnings of €609,409. This victory beats his previous best finishes of second in the 2008 Omega European Masters and tied second in the 2009 UBS Hong Kong Open.

*Aged 19 and 273 days becomes the seventh youngest winner in European Tour history.

*Becomes the sixth different teenager to win on The European Tour. He follows Dale Hayes (18 and 290 days – 1971 Spanish Open); Seve Ballesteros (19 and 121 days – 1976 Dutch Open and 19 and 191 days – 1976 Trophée Lancôme); Paul Way (19 and 149 days – 1982 KLM Dutch Open); Sergio Garcia (19 and 176 days – 1999 Murphy’s Irish Open and 19 and 267 days – 1999 Linde German Masters) and Aaron Baddeley (19 and 331 days – 2001 Greg Norman Holden International).

*First teenager to win on The European Tour since Aaron Baddeley at the 2001 Greg Norman Holden International, who was 19 and 331 days.

*Becomes the youngest winner on The European Tour since Sergio Garcia, who was 19 and 267 days at the 1999 Linde German Masters.

*Becomes the youngest winner of the Dubai Desert Classic aged 19 and 273 days, beating the previous record of David Howell, who was 23 and 236 days in 1999.

*The third first-time winner on the 2009 European Tour International Schedule. The others are Lin Weng-tang (UBS Hong Kong Open) and Rodney Pampling (Sportsbet Australian Masters).

*Joins Wayne Westner (1993), Ernie Els (1994), Richard Green (1997), David Howell (1999) and Robert-Jan Derksen (2003) as players making the Dubai Desert Classic their first European Tour win.

* The 33rd win for Northern Ireland in European Tour history.

*The sixth golfer from Northern Ireland to win a European Tour event,

*The 362nd golfer to win on the European Tour.
 
*The first Northern Irish player to win on the 2009 European Tour.

*First Northern Irishman to win on the European Tour since Darren Clarke at the 2008 KLM Open.

*First player from Northern Ireland to win the Dubai Desert Classic.

*Becomes the 17th different player to win the Dubai Desert Classic in the 20th anniversary of the event.

* With Rory McIlroy winning, Northern Ireland becomes the 12th different nation to win the Dubai Desert Classic.

*Becomes the first wire-to-wire winner of the 2009 European Tour season.

*The first wire-to-wire winner with no ties since Søren Kjeldsen at the 2008 Volvo Masters.

*Follows Eamonn Darcy (1990), Seve Ballesteros (1992), Ernie Els (1994) and José Coceres (2000) as players winning the Dubai Desert Classic in wire-to-wire fashion.

*Moves from 39th to 16th in the official world golf ranking.

*Gains a place in the HSBC Champions in November.

*Gains a place in the 2009 World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play.
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Stats analysis
Rory McIlroy demonstrated his impressive all-round game in winning the Dubai Desert Classic.

The Genworth Financial statistics show the Northern Irish teenager was strong in every department over the week, with the reward being his European Tour breakthrough. He has length off the tee, as shown by his average drive of 306 yards, the second longest of the week. His approach play was equally impressive as he hit an average of 83.3 per cent, the second best performance from the field, which equated to 15 of the 18 greens per round.

His ‘putts per green in regulation’ was another notable performance with 1.635 per hole, placing him fifth. He also successfully got and down from all four bunkers he went into, a 100 per cent record. And while his driving accuracy showed he hit 60.7 per cent of fairways, the 15th best of the week, and his putts per round were 29.2, putting him in 25th place in that category, the complete package resulted in a maiden European Tour triumph.