A drive to win and years of hard work that show McIlroy is the real thing

When Rory McIlroy comes to look back at the landmarks of his golfing career, June 19, 2011 will certainly be among them.

In the Washington sunshine McIlroy didn’t just win his first major, but did so in a manner which silenced his critics and won him a whole legion of new fans.

Watched by hundreds of family and friends back home in Northern Ireland, as he walked towards the 18th hole, McIlroy allowed himself a smile. He knew then that he had exorcised the demons of the US Masters two months earlier where having thrown away a four-shot lead on the final round he had been left doubled over in despair and tied in 15th place.

Many feared the nightmare on the greens at Augusta would leave him psychologically scarred, but McIlroy proved he is made of sterner stuff and even before he had submitted the scorecard which confirmed him as the 2011 US Open champion and the youngest winner of the event since Bobby Jones in 1923, the plaudits were flowing.

His friend and fellow golfer Graeme McDowell was among those heralding the 22-year-old as the next Tiger Woods. It was a comparison which only goes so far. As many, including those who spent much of the weekend lining the fairways chanting his name, noted McIlroy is blessed not just with prodigious talent, but with a refreshingly unassuming attitude.

“Authenticity speaks for itself or not at all,” wrote the Washington Post. Woods name wasn’t mentioned, but the inference was clear. “McIlroy seems to have it, both in his golf swing and in his face. From his understated gestures to his cocky-modest smile, from his twirl of the club as a perfect shot hangs in mid-flight to the image Sunday evening of his huge hug with his father beside the 18th green, he makes us think, ‘There’s the real thing’.”

As he lifted the trophy, McIlroy’s thoughts turned to home and those who watched him as a teenager hitting endless plastic golf balls on the lush greens of Holywood Golf Club as he strove to perfect his chipping technique. His County Down home is where he has always felt most comfortable, but after the events at the Congressional Country Club, life for the young sportsman will be anything but normal.

“Over the next 10 years he is going to be the £100m man, that’s pounds, not dollars. It is that scary,” says Steve Martin, chief executive of M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment. “He’s probably at the £5m-a-year mark anyway because of his contracts with the likes of Titleist, Jumeriah, Oakley and others, but there are few sportsmen with the potential to transcend the sport.

“Up until last night Rory McIlroy was an amazing young golfer. Now he is an amazing superstar sportsman and the potential to double his earnings is very, very realistic. His appeal is unusual because he is so young, he has broken all those records and Irishmen in America go down very well.

“He has got everything in his locker – youth, he handles everything well, he smiles, he is engaging to listen to and he is incredibly aspirational for young kids. The US audience is incredibly hard to crack, but they are almost treating him as their own.”

McIlroy is clearly well-liked on the circuit – fellow golfer Darren Clarke has reportedly dropped out of a European Tour event in Munich to be at his friend’s homecoming in Northern Ireland – but as the history of sport has shown, nice guys don’t always finish first.

Having completed an unbelievable four rounds, the pressure will be on McIlroy to replicate his success whenever he steps up to the tee. Should he falter, the critics who wondered after the Masters whether he had the bottle to be a true champion will soon find their voice again.

“A lot of young athletes will withdraw from sport because of psychological and emotional pressures, and the media can play a role in that pressure,” says Dr Susan Backhouse, Reader in the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University and an expert in sports psychology.

“One key factor is the athletes themselves being involved in their own training schedule.

“There is a danger of over-training so this has to be structured around their development and they need to feel they have an input, rather than it being decided for them.”

Athletes themselves can be their own worst enemy and the pursuit of ranking points, trophies and prize money can become all consuming. As the tennis player Jennifer Capriati, who was world number one for a short time before going off the rails, demonstrated, early promise does not necessarily equate to career longevity.

“Research shows that those who are perfectionists are more at risk of burn out,” adds Dr Backhouse.

“Budding young sportsmen and women need realistic goals otherwise they risk being disappointed if they don’t quite make the grade. They need an identity that’s not just about sport because if they have that when they’re young and aren’t then successful they have little else to hang on to.

“At the highest level, mental strength can make the difference between success and failure and sports psychologists are working closely now with athletes and coaches, because emotional pressure is just as important as physical pressure.

“When expectations are high it’s important to feel like you can handle the pressure.

“The key thing for Rory is to have good people around him, which he seems to have. After his experiences at the Masters he seems to have said, ‘what can I learn from this?’ And that’s where athletes can draw on themselves and put goals in place for the future.”

While McIlroy was certainly a golfing prodigy – he was two when he hit his first 40-yard drive – his natural flair is coupled with years of hard work.

His parents, Gerry and Rose remember him chipping plastic balls into the washing machine from the hallway of their modest family home. It was a skill he showed off on television in 1999 when he was invited onto the Gerry Kelly Show having just won the World Under-10 Championships in Florida.

Dressed in a blue polo shirt, dark trousers and highly-polished black shoes, McIlroy barely reached the waist of the Irish presenter, but even then it was clear he was a special talent and a lad who was dedicated to his sport.

“Rory’s coach, Michael Bannon, once asked him to change his grip once and his mum found him asleep on the couch with the club in his hands,” says Andrew Simmonds, coach at the Darren Clarke School of Golf. “It is that sort of drive you need. Rory has put in the hours of practice, doing the right moves and it pays off. There are no short-cuts. Obviously there is no substitute for talent, but in terms of developing his skills he just works ridiculously hard.”

Innate talent, hard work and an attitude the embodies the very best of sportsmanship, it seems those who doubted McIlroy’s ability to bounce back after the disappointment of the Masters may have underestimated him.

“This boy really learns, this is what the golfing fraternity had not fully understood about him,” says John Stevenson, McIlroy’s former headmaster at Sullivan Upper School. “Every experience he has he builds into that golf computer in his brain and he learnt from the Masters. He is a young guy, he looks good and he is friendly, but don’t underestimate the attitude he brings to the game.”

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Rory Mcilroy’s path to glory

1989: Born on May 4 in Holywood, Northern Ireland.

1991: Hits a 40-yard drive.

1998: Makes his first hole in one.

2004: Helps Europe win the Junior Ryder Cup.

2005: Plays his first professional European Tour at the Forest of Arden. In July, shoots a course record 61 on the Dunluce links at Royal Portrush Gold Club.

2008: Enters the top 200 world rankings for the first time.

2009: Wins first professional title at the Dubai Desert Classic by one shot from Justin Rose.

2011: Loses a four-shot lead in the final round of the Masters to finish tied 15th. Two months later storms the US Open, claiming his first major title by eight shots.