Rory McIlroy!!

[IrishGolfer]

I believe he will be joining the Chubby Chandler Management stable when he turns pro. Chubby (ISM) manages Clarke, Westwood etc. I'll bet after this week the offers will be rolling in. I wonder if he will get $40m from Nike as a signing on fee, (a la Eldrick).

It is still obviously WAY too early to predict this guy's potential. He is only 18 and plenty of young guys with lots of potential have fallen off the wagon before realising their talent. Gordon Sherry is an example of this. And that young US kid (can't rememebr his name...)

I hope he doesn't do a Justin Rose. Remember he finished 4th in the Open as an Amateur years ago and then went to Siberia for ~5 years afterwards. Luckily for him he was able to get back to World status, but many don't.

Lots of people are saying he should stay an amateur, but I disagree. There are the examples of Seve, Sergio who just went straight into the game and did well. He just needs a few breaks and the right team round him.

I hope he becomes a World force, but so few do. This Open is just a stepping stone to that regardless of how he finishes.

[Irish]

[quote=IrishGolfer;144889]
Lots of people are saying he should stay an amateur, but I disagree. There are the examples of Seve, Sergio who just went straight into the game and did well. He just needs a few breaks and the right team round him.
quote]

Fully agree here IG...most people need a good few years at amateur level to get into the competitive edge required to play golf at the highest level...but this kid has already been doing this since the age of 15 in Ireland...

the one thing that he needs to improve on from what I've read is that he either wins a tournament in amateur or comes outside the top ten...he will need to scramble for his first few years as a pro cause he's just not going to be able to win as often as he currently does..

is he not off +6??

[emc]

[QUOTE=Irish;144892]

Originally Posted by IrishGolfer

Lots of people are saying he should stay an amateur, but I disagree. There are the examples of Seve, Sergio who just went straight into the game and did well. He just needs a few breaks and the right team round him.
quote]

Fully agree here IG...most people need a good few years at amateur level to get into the competitive edge required to play golf at the highest level...but this kid has already been doing this since the age of 15 in Ireland...

the one thing that he needs to improve on from what I've read is that he either wins a tournament in amateur or comes outside the top ten...he will need to scramble for his first few years as a pro cause he's just not going to be able to win as often as he currently does..

is he not off +6??

+5.6 or something like that. To put this into context, the Irish amateur Close was held down my end a few weeks back, and the lowest handicap there was off +2.8, so he's nearly 3 shots better than the top amateurs in Ireland

[Eracer]

Thanks to our Irish friends for giving us the straight story about this kid.

Great swing. Great attitude. I found myself grinning throughout while watching him make good shot after good shot yesterday.

I hope he plays well the next few days. That swing looks bullet-proof, but nerves can kill any swing. We'll see.

[Adam Pettman]

He finished at +2 today his putting let him down a little bit, but hes still a fantastic talent.

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by Adam Pettman

He finished at +2 today his putting let him down a little bit, but hes still a fantastic talent.

Well then, he will make the cut by a handsome margin...I'm a believer and will watch him closely once he goes pro in September.

[Adam Pettman]

Originally Posted by Bravo

Well then, he will make the cut by a handsome margin...I'm a believer and will watch him closely once he goes pro in September.

Chances are he'll be the only ametuer to make the cut which is very impressive. If he'd just taken a little more time over a few short putts he'd still be in contention.

[Bravo]

Originally Posted by Adam Pettman

Chances are he'll be the only ametuer to make the cut which is very impressive. If he'd just taken a little more time over a few short putts he'd still be in contention.

Check your scoreboard. He shot 6 over today. He finished with a 76 and is at +2...

[Adam Pettman]

Originally Posted by Bravo

Check your scoreboard. He shot 6 over today. He finished with a 76 and is at +2...

If he'd made the four putts he'd be at -2 which isnt to far from the lead.

[The master]

Finished strong, and looks to be the only amature to make the cut, he putted very poorly today, and wasn't quite on with his irons. Hopefully he will finish with 2 strong rounds.

[MCDavis]

Thanks to the guys that straightened out this thread (Bravo included). That's the kind of info I come here for!!

[The master]

Another we story you might like, when Rory turned 18 a few months back Darren Clarke bought him a BMW and insured it for him. I thought that was a pretty nice gesture lol.

Just some other background information, rory got down to scratch when he was 12 years old. He has played for Ireland since he was 15, the youngest irish international. He won the world Under 10 golf championship in Florida.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by The master

Another we story you might like, when Rory turned 18 a few months back Darren Clarke bought him a BMW and insured it for him. I thought that was a pretty nice gesture lol.

Just some other background information, rory got down to scratch when he was 12 years old. He has played for Ireland since he was 15, the youngest irish international. He won the world Under 10 golf championship in Florida.

Scratch at 12 ?!?!?!

[VtDivot]

unfortunately I didn't get to see him today as the Tiger Network was all Tiger all the time as usual... it was great seeing him hit balls on the range after his round when there's guys still out there fighting. I love watching Tiger play, but do we really need to see him and Hank on the range???

I would have liked to see some more of the Austrian dude instead.

Hopefully Weir gets some airtime tomorrow in between Tiger putting on his mittens.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by VtDivot

unfortunately I didn't get to see him today as the Tiger Network was all Tiger all the time as usual... it was great seeing him hit balls on the range after his round when there's guys still out there fighting. I love watching Tiger play, but do we really need to see him and Hank on the range???

I would have liked to see some more of the Austrian dude instead.

Hopefully Weir gets some airtime tomorrow in between Tiger putting on his mittens.

McIlvoy finished before El Tigre teed off.