Rory McIlroy: a legend in the making

A Catholic who grew up in a Protestant suburb of Belfast, went to one of the region's feted non-denominational schools and never took much interest in either religion or politics, is being touted as the young, smiling poster-boy of post-conflict Northern Ireland.
 
Nineteen-year-old golfer Rory McIlroy tees off at Augusta today with the praise of golf's great and good ringing in his ears. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ernie Els and Mark O'Meara have all suggested McIlroy, ranked 17 in the world after winning the Dubai Desert Classic in February, could go on to become a legend of the game.
 
He grew up chipping balls into a washing machine. His mother took night shifts at a factory and his father worked three jobs, for 90 hours every week, to find the funds for a 1,200 sq ft floodlit putting green in the back garden.
 
He makes his Masters debut today alongside Anthony Kim, the self-assured Korean-American, and another, even younger, teenage debutant, Japan's Ryo Ishikawa. It's a tournament that McIlroy couldn't wait to play in.
 
"I always got very excited about the Masters as a kid. I could hardly wait until the Wednesday when you'd get the BBC's preview," he said "And I'd then be glued to the screen until Sunday night. I really got hooked when Tiger Woods won it in 1997 (by a record 12 strokes). I was only eight but I watched every hole that year. I've got the tape and I've seen it so many times I can tell you almost every shot he played." ·