Book details

Rory McIlroy was born in Holywood, County Down, near to Belfast. He is an only child and was introduced to golf at an exceptionally young age by his father, Gerry, who is a fine player himself. For four years Gerry held three jobs - working 100 hours a week to help his son's career. Hard-hitting Rory was always destined to become a professional golfer since the moment he recorded a 40-yard drive aged just two-years-old. His amazing amateur career saw him represent Europe in the winning Junior Ryder Cup team in 2004, before becoming the youngest winner of the prestigious West of Ireland and Irish Close Championships in 2005. The following year he successfully retained both Irish amateur titles and in August 2006 he won the European Amateur Championship. Rory shot into the public eye with his superb opening three-under-par 68 in the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie, the only bogey-free round of the day. He went on to tie for 42nd position and accept the Silver Medal as leading amateur. His first professional event was the Quinn Direct British Masters, and he finished third in his second professional event, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Despite high expectations, Rory keeps a cool head on his young shoulders and lets his golf do the talking. In 2008 Rory exceeded his expectations by making it to the Volvo Masters at Valderrama and entered the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings.  At the beginning of the 2009 season Rory was beaten in a play-off for the UBS Hong Kong Open title - this performance elevated him into the top 50 which assured him a coveted place in the 2009 Masters Tournament at Augusta. Rory's maiden victory came in the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic where he endured a nail-biting final hole and ultimately beat Justin Rose to the title by one shot. Rory finished in 2nd place in the inaugural European Tour Race to Dubai. Rory made his mark in the USA in April 2010 when he won the Quail Hollow Championship on the PGA Tour shooting a course record 62 on the final day, beating Phil Mickelson by four shots. But his final breakthrough was winning his first major, the US Open at Congressional Country Club in Maryland, USA in June 2011. Rory won by eight shots and finished on the amazing total of sixteen under par. 2012 has seen Rory hold the ranking of number one golfer in the world, becoming the second youngest to hold the title, winning the Honda Classic, and finishing as runner up at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and WGC Accenture Match Play. The Ryder Cup is due to be staged in September 2012 at Medinah Country Club and Rory is sure to be part of Jose Marian Olazabal's European Team battling to retain the trophy.