Rory McIlroy - My meeting with him when he was just 18

A journalist's early insight into a golfing superstar-to-be

Everything in golf (and much of the sporting world, in general) in the last week has centred on Rory McIlroy. His Masters triumph just seven days ago made back page and front page headlines because he achieved what only five other golfers have managed in the history of the sport - victory in all four major championships, something as rare has hen’s teeth. Not only that, but his win came so close to being a story of heartbreak. Rory’s victory tears were more real than any reality show or high quality TV drama could ever muster.

I was there when his journey began in professional golf. Rory had already been tagged as a prodigy from an early age - filmed by local news TV cameras In Northern Ireland chipping golf balls through the open door of a washing machine like many kids try to do (and fail). He was a startling amateur golfer in his teens and starred in the 2007 Open Championship in the final few months of his life in the ranks of unpaid golfers. Then in September of the same year, he wanted a life on the European Tour and with the pros, so he entered the Tour’s Q School competition.

Q is short for Qualifying and this three-stage tournament is how young players achieve a place at the elite level. It’s a deliberately arduous test. If successful over 10 rounds at three different courses over the space of several weeks, the player receives what is called a Tour Card and can play in many of the biggest events the following season. If the player fails at Q School, then it’s back to the low-grade Tours and a life of scraping a golfing living.

Hundreds of players enter Q School each year and the aspiring youngsters have to compete with older, more experienced players who are trying desperately to return to the Tour. Q School is dramatic because it changes lives - the jeopardy causes amazing amounts of tension - whole careers can be launched or crushed. Get a Tour Card and you’re on the driving range next time alongside great champions in front of thousands of fans; miss out and you’re driving yourself to a non-descript golf course in the middle of nowhere to play for loose change, watched only by one man and his dog.

I was writing a book with the theme of golfers on the edge of glory back in 2007 and turned up at the First Stage of Q School The Oxfordshire course in early September that year to interview players trying to reach The Big Show. When I first saw Rory, he was fresh-faced, totally relaxed, strolling around the practice area with his trademark bouncy walk and winning smile. He had two teammates from the recent Walker Cup (this is amateur’s Ryder Cup) for company and he knew that he only needed to play average golf to progress to Second Stage - the top 29 out of almost 100 golfers at The Oxfordshire would move on. This was grass roots pro golf at its most basic; no frills, no crowds, seemingly no connection to the great golfing tournaments all the players dreamed about. I was the only journalist for miles - only the players and their families and friends were following this golfing story.

The first day of the four-round event, Rory teed off around lunchtime and his reputation had preceded him - this was a player destined for greatness, a rare sight indeed at Q School. Everyone around the clubhouse came to the 1st tee to watch his opening drive - it was faultless, of course, despite water on the right of the fairway, and he set off (carrying his own bag like any teen golfer should!) in what he said later was library-like conditions. “I didn't feel any nerves really,” he told me, “I just kind of cruised.”

Even then, Rory was engaging, thoughtful and real - no automatic answers, no immature announcements about his future, no contempt or impatience for being asked questions about his golf which he had already heard many times even back then. He looked you in the eye and said what was in his heart and on his mind. And, guess what, he’s never changed.

His manners were, and still are, impeccable with the press. His willingness to front-up about difficult, personal topics is admirable - I watched him in a press conference in 2014 just days after he broke off his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki and try to explain his reasons for causing this very awkward break-up (the wedding invitations had already been sent out!).

And this open-hearted attitude to life is also part of the reason for his 11-year drought of a major championship win and the consequent outburst of love from millions of golf fans when he finally won in Augusta last week. You see, Rory’s superhuman on the golf course with a 5-iron in his hand trying to carve a ball around a tree onto a slippery green, but totally human in his normal, everyday head and in the way he processes his emotions. Other golf greats like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus had killer instincts who could put a foot on their opponent’s throat and keep pressing; but they were much more opaque as men. By comparison, Rory also likes to win, but is less ruthless; he has a window into his soul that exposes his relative mental frailty and sometimes allows his competitors to beat him when the going gets toughest. But this is what makes Rory so likeable.

For example, he persists with his childhood friend as his caddie despite many experts saying Harry Diamond should have been sacked long ago. This loyalty caused Rory’s tears after the Masters (their first Major win together) and proved how much he wanted this dream to come true - best friends sharing in the ultimate glory.

Back at Q School in 2007, you wanted him to succeed so bad because of his kid-next-door appearance and personality. He didn’t win that week, but he didn’t have to. He qualified for Q School Second Stage with ease and then promptly played extremely well in a couple of European Tour events in the next few weeks. Non-Tour Card-carrying pros are granted limited invitations to tournaments each year and Rory took full advantage his as he gathered enough money to immediately rocket-launch his professional ranking so high that he could play on Tour in 2008 without the need for Q School qualification. It was a remarkable feat from a remarkable golfer.

So, what now for Rory? His narrative will change from “when will you win the Grand Slam of golf” to “how many majors can you now win”? To the new question, that wide-eyed young lad at Q School would have said he’d win loads of majors. Maybe the mature father-of-one should look back at that carefree youth of 2007 and play with the same kind of freedom as he did back then. Golf is difficult for everyone, amateurs and pros alike - it’s just a matter of degree. But if you play with fun in your heart, and love and/or accept all the bad shots that you know will come along, then the outcome is no longer overwhelming. Great golf emerges from a freedom of mind and body and Rory has a whole new perspective now on that theory.

There’s a strong chance that Rory will be a different golfer from now on, more like the youngster of Q School in 2007. Watch him soar.

Ross Biddiscombe’s book Golf On The Edge: Triumphs & Tragedies Of Q School is still available on most bookselling platforms.