One word that sums up Rory McIlroy’s grand slam winning career. Resilience. A trait shaped here in County Sligo Golf Club at the West of Ireland.
Twenty years ago, a wiry 15-year-old with bushy hair rocked up to the West and announced himself as a golfing prodigy. In 2006 he came back to successfully defend his crown, a feat nobody has managed to emulate since.
The crowds were the largest since the days of Joe Carr. A few hundred spectators are expected to flock to the fairways on the canvas of Ben Bulben to watch local hero Barry Anderson try and replicate his win of 2017 in the semi finals and final today but McIlroy created a different buzz twenty years ago.
It was the start of McIlroy mania.
McIlroy became the first European player to win all four men’s major championships at the Masters two weeks ago. It was his first green jacket, his fifth major in all and his first in eleven years. After years of heartbreak since 2014, the Holywood man always came back for more.
His resilience has never been in doubt, two West of Ireland Championship wins is testament to that.
Former County Sligo captain and Irish underage selector Kevin Flanagan already knew of McIlroy’s potential twelve months before he arrived as the hot favourite at the West in 2005.
“I had been alerted to the existence of Rory the previous year,” says Flanagan, a competitor in seven West of Ireland Championships, including playing the qualifier with Paul Rayfus of Co. Meath GC, the year he won in 1986.
“There was a member of County Sligo who was a junior selector with Irish Boys panels. He had mentioned that he had seen Rory playing in a junior session when he was twelve, already playing off scratch.
“He played the West in 2004 and I remember going out to watch him play the fourth hole. When he came back in 2005 the expectations were so high because he was so talented.”
Despite being aged just fifteen, McIlroy, with his father Gerry on the bag, looked the business and was a class above on and off the golf course.
“He was so professional in the way he did everything. Even from a young age you could see he was in control. His dad was on the bag but you could see he was making all the decisions. Even when the press were here he was so articulate and able to talk for himself and his father wasn’t anywhere near the scene,” he explains.
“His all round game was good. He wasn’t as strong as he is now. He hit the ball as far as anyone else did. His long irons were spectacular.
“You hear of lots of young lads coming here with big reputations, just like Rory’s. But looking back we all knew he had the potential to be the real deal. Him winning and winning the second time was fantastic for us and the success he had since.
“He tried to win three in a row, Tiger won three US Amateurs so maybe that’s what drove Rory on.”
County Sligo Golf Club has been the birthplace of many fantastic professional careers with McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington all clinching the West as their maiden major amateur title here while Paul McGinley won the Irish Close in Rosses Point.
“The West at Easter, start of the season, to win the West is a fantastic start for any player. If you do well at the West and you are on an Irish panel it automatically puts you ahead of other players for selection on teams,” Flanagan continues.
“There’s always a bond with Rory and Shane, they both enjoyed their first championship wins in Rosses Point and they were stepping stones to what they went on to become. Paul McGinley and Pádraig Harrington also won their first championships here.”
Flanagan spent plenty of time with McIlroy as a youngster and was impressed with how disciplined he was when away with the Irish international teams.
“Rory won the Irish Close twice in Westport and the European Club. Then he went on into the professional game. I’ve never met him in the professional game but I was involved with Irish teams when he was coming through. He’s a gentleman to deal with. I never had any hassle with Rory, get discipline and he was always the first to bed and very well prepared.
“He was totally dedicated as a child and fully focused towards being who he is today.”
Flanagan’s accounts of a young McIlroy show that he hasn’t changed all that much and his Masters win a fortnight ago with close friend and 2012 West winner Harry Diamond on the bag evoked memories of one match that Flanagan watched McIlroy snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
“The likes of Rory and Shane Lowry attracted bigger crowds than usual. Rory being Rory was by far the better player, but he would always hit the odd shot or miss the odd putt to give the other fella a chance, so he rarely cruised to victory.
“When he came down to the final few holes, there was one match I remember in particular, Rory played Alan Glynne. Alan was one up playing the last and Rory birdied the last to go to extra holes. They halved the nineteenth in pars and Alan hit his second shot on the 20th to six inches and Rory hit his to two feet.
“Next hole, they both made comfortable fours and Rory managed to birdie the fourth hole, the par-3. He was four-under for the last five holes. I remember other matches where he got out of very tight games towards the end of it he always seemed to get through which was a great trait to have.”
McIlroy hasn’t returned to County Sligo since turning professional but Flanagan harbours hopes that he may get the hero’s welcome he deserves at an Irish Open in the future.
“Someone’s phone on the timeline showed a photograph of 20 years ago with Rory lifting the trophy. You never know, we might have him down here playing again some day. There is talk of Irish Opens but nothing in the immediate future.”
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