Happy Birthday Rory McIlroy!

Post by Golf Writer Kieran Clark

Having just turned 27, it's a perfect time to reflect on what Rory McIlroy has already achieved in his (still) young career, and what may yet be to come in the future. It was a journey that began in Holywood, Northern Ireland, and there has been more than a touch of cinematic grandeur to his rise through the game. 

Begging his father, Gerry, to be taken to the local golf course every day, Rory's initation came at an early age, with his seemingly natural aptitude for the sport becoming quickly evident. Joining the club at the age of seven, being coached by Michael Bannon, who remains his mentor to this day, the youngster began to play in youth events internationally, most notably the World Championship at the Doral Resort in Florida, where he clinched the 9-10 Age Bracket title. 

This was all supported by his dedicated parents, who took on extra jobs to pay for their son to explore his talent. Playing in the Junior Ryder Cup at the age of 15 in 2004, observors had already began to take notice of his achievements. This was furthered with success as an amateur, winning the West of Ireland and Irish Close Championships. He would take that form onto the continent, with a victory in the European Amateur granting him entry into the 2007 Open at Carnoustie. 

Shooting an opening round of 68 on the notoriously difficult links, McIlroy was introduced on the world stage, eventually taking the silver medal as leading amateur. Member of the 2007 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup Team at Royal County Down, alongside newly crowned Masters champion Danny Willett, the 18-year-old turned professional that autumn, securing his European Tour card quickly with strong showings at the British Masters, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and Open de Madrid. It would be time for the next chapter to be written.

Posting six-top ten finishes during the 2008 season, the youngster broke inside the Top 100 in the Official World Rankings, with a second-place finish towards the end of that year in Hong Kong seeing him breach the Top 50. That would bring with it a coveted invitation to the Masters Tournament at Augusta National in 2009. 

That February, he claimed his first professional title with the Dubai Desert Classic. His maiden PGA Tour victory would come just over a year later at Quail Hollow. These would be the foundational landmarks in a career that has so far included two World Golf Championships, three Ryder Cup appearances, and two Race to Dubai triumphs. But it is the four major championships - becoming only the third player to win three by the age of 25 - that have defined McIlroy. Those are his legacy to date and have contributed to his 95 weeks at the summit of the world. 

2011 U.S. Open

Having endured a devasting collapse at the Masters just two months previously, there were questions as to how the 22-year-old would respond to the pressure of contention the next time he found himself in that position. He didn't leave us long to find out the answer, with an empthatic victory in the suburbs of the U.S. Capital at Congressional. 

Sustained wet conditions had softened the course, much to the chagrin of the USGA, and it was perfectly poised to be exploited by the Northern Irishman's long and towering ball flight. He made his move on the opening day, with a bogey-free 65 putting him into the lead by one shot over major champions Y.E. Yang and Charl Schwartzel. He would not relent.

In the process of setting championship scoring records, Rory carried on from where he had left off, taking a six-shot lead into the weekend after a 66 to leave him sitting at 11-under, having at one stage been two better off until a double bogey on the difficult taking just a slight bit of the shine off another special round. It was his to lose from here. 

On Saturday, playing alongside former PGA winner Yang, he became the first player to ever reach 14-under in a U.S. Open, extending his lead to eight heading into the final round. It was a breathtaking display of technical execution and dominance, of the like that hadn't been witnessed since Tiger's run at the turn of the century. But he still had to get it done. 

Striding confidently onto the first tee, McIlroy birdied the opening hole to start what would become a coronation. Further birdies on the fourth and 10th took him to an eye-watering 17-under, but a dropped shot on the 17th brought him back to (just) eight shots ahead of young Australian Jason Day. Rory had banished the demons of the Masters, and embraced his father after tapping in for an historic triumph. 

Rory McIlroy was a major champion. And there would be more to come.

2012 PGA Championship

Carrying on from the year before, McIlroy reached the final of the WGC World Match Play, won the Honda Classic at PGA National, briefly contended at the Masters, before narrowly missing out on victory in both the WGC Cadillac and Wells Fargo Championships. The late spring and early summer would be disappointing, with a missed cut in his U.S. Open defence and a distant finish at the Open Championship. 

However, showing life at Firestone with a tie for fifth in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, McIlroy arrived at Kiawah Island in confident mood for the final major of the year. Having shot a 67 on the opening day, conditions at the former Ryder Cup venue began to worsen, leading to higher scores and suspensions of play. When the second round came to its end, the 23-year-old was two shots off the lead, which was jointly held by Carl Pettersson, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods. 

On Saturday, before play was halted due to a thunderstorm, McIlroy had birdied five of his opening eight holes to take the lead in the PGA, before dropping a shot to fall into a tie with the veteran Singh, a two-time champion. When the championship resumed on Sunday morning, the Ulsterman had 27 holes of destiny ahead of him.

Playing the back-nine in one-under, the world number three would establish a three shot lead going into the final round. It would be a display reminiscent of Congressional. Compiling a bogey-free 66, capped off with a 20-foot putt on the last hole, the Northern Irshman had won the PGA Championship of America by a record eight shots from England's David Lynn.

He would take this renewed confidence into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, winning two of them, before triumphing at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, the season finale on the European Tour. He had become the dominant player.

2014 Open Championship 

Having struggled for form during much of 2013, McIlroy was on a mission of redemption throughout 2014. Narrowly losing in Abu Dhabi and at the Honda early on, the signs were positive, with a victory at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth ushering in a new chapter for the 25-year-old, in the aftermath of his split from tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. 

Coming to the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, the major that most believed to be least suited to him, Rory opened with a 66 on Thursday to take the early advantage on the Wirral coast. Scoring was low and bunched, on a course that had been softened by rain throughout a wet English summer. 

On Friday, he followed up with another six-under round, taking control of the championship at the halfway stage. Leading by four shots from the mercurial American Dustin Johnson, expected bad weather on Saturday would see play brought forward with the remaining players going off the first and 10th, the first time that a two-tee start had been seen at the Open. 

With the chasing pack closing in, McIlroy produced a blistering run towards the finish, as the clouds ominously looked down from above, with eagles on the 16th and 18th holes taking him six-clear of Rickie Fowler, who had recently finished a distant second to Martin Kaymer in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. 

The young Californian and Sergio Garcia made a valiant attempt to snatch the Claret Jug from the leader, but Rory's timely birdie on the 16th was enough to keep him ahead of his pursuers. 2013 was a distant memory. He was the first European player in history to win three different majors.

Rory McIlroy had won the Open Championship.

2014 PGA Championship

With only three weeks between the last two majors on the calender, McIlroy was the hot favourite heading into the PGA at Valhalla, like Hoylake a venue that had once crowned Tiger Woods. Anticipation had been intensified further with his victory at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational on the eve of the final Grand Slam event of the year. Rory had been returned to the summit of the world rankings and was poised to underline that fact on an ideal course.

Despite making a double bogey, the Open champion recovered with four successive birdies on the back-nine to complete an opening round of 66. That placed him just one shot behind Kevin Chappell, Ryan Palmer and Lee Westwood, who were all tied at the top. However, McIlroy was the player everyone was paying attention to. He was the man to beat. 

That would prove to be the case on Friday, when he took the halfway lead after a second round of 67, which placed him one shot ahead of Jason Day and former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk. Former winner Phil Mickelson was just three back. A weekend shootout was expected in Kentucky. 

And that is what transpired, with Rory remaining in the lead after making birdie on three of the last four holes. Going into Sunday, he was one-shot ahead of Austria's Bernd Wiesberger, with two-time major runner-up Rickie Fowler in third. Jason Day and Phil Mickelson were still in touch at ten-under, just three shots back of the world number one. 

Unlike his other major triumphs, this PGA would be a final round battle for McIlroy. Following a sluggish start, Rory found himself trailing Fowler, Mickelson and Henrik Stenson, and was even briefly three-shots back and was beginning to be discounted as a potential winner in the face of the stellar names above.

However, an eagle on the 10th suddenly altered the picture dramatically, with birdies on the 13th and 16th moving him back into the lead, with a par in the last in near darkness keeping him one shot ahead of the five-time major champion, Mickelson, who had birdied the 72nd. Rory McIlroy was a four-time major champion and an established great.

In the face of a renewed challenge from the likes of Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Danny Willett, it will be fascinating to see if the Northern Irishman can once again establish himself at the top. He has already achieved an enormous amount, but there is a sense that there is more to come. When he's at his best, Rory McIlroy is still the best.