Rory has the world at his feet
ON THE GREENS WITH SAM TORRANCE
RORY MCILROY could enjoy his crowing glory in Dubai this Sunday, but whatever happens, 2009 will always go down as the year when a new golfing superstar was born.
At 20, young Rory could become the second youngest European No1 behind Seve Ballesteros this week if he holds off rivals Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher in the season-ending Dubai World Championship.
McIlroy’s fantastic performance in finishing second in Hong Kong at the weekend saw him go €128,000 ahead of Westwood at the top of the standings and into the driving seat for the Dubai showdown.
While his magnificent final round 64 fell just short of winner Gregory Bourdy at Fanling, it showed an old head on young shoulders – seemingly oblivious to the pressure around him.
Now the ball is firmly in his court. Rory just has to play his own game knowing if he wins the event, he can’t be caught. Of course he’ll be aware of what’s going on around him, but he has no control over that – he just has to focus on his game and doing what he knows best.
PRESSURE
Victory for either McIlroy, Westwood or Kaymer on Sunday would crown them champion, while Fisher will top the Race to Dubai if he wins and either McIlroy or Westwood don’t finish second. In short, it promises to be a magnificent end-of-season finale.
But while the pressure is on at the top of the Race of Dubai, it’s equally tight at the lower end of the scale.None more so than for young Seve Benson, who took the final card for next year after a tense qualifying event. Seve, I know, has fought extremely hard to secure his place on the tour. First he missed the cut in a qualifying event in Singapore, then flew to Australia, where his 17th place finish was enough to earn him the very last card. Now, that’s pressure of a different kind.
Finally, I was delighted to see the decision by the R&A yesterday to extend the entry age for past champions with a recent top 10 finish. In short, that means Tom Watson at next year’s Open and that’s got to be good for everyone.
RACE TO DUBAI STANDINGS
1 Rory McIlroy (NIR) €2,538,449
2 Lee Westwood (Eng) €2,410,277
3 Martin Kaymer (Ger) €2,332,544
4 Ross Fisher (Eng) €2,105,047
5 Paul Casey (Eng) €2,014,063