A closer look at the first time we saw Rory McIlroy on the European Tour
Introduced to us as the ‘young prodigy’, 16-year-old McIlroy first hit our screens as an amateur playing at Carton House GC for the Nissan Irish Open in 2005 – a week after he made his European Tour debut at the Daily Telelgraph Dunlop Masters.
In this video we see the now World Number One impress on the big stage, making a par putt at the 11th and birdie putts at both the 15th and 17th holes.
Although McIlroy missed the cut in this event after he followed that opening 71 with an 81 in round two, he made the headlines just two months later for setting the course record of 61 at Royal Portrush.
And he isn’t the only one you’ll recognise in this video. On McIlroy’s bag is his good friend Harry Diamond, who became his regular caddie in 2017.
