Good read on Rory Mcllroy

There is a pretty solid read on Golf.com today about 19-year-old Irish phenom Rory Mcllroy, who played his first event on the PGA Tour at last weekend's WGC Accenture Match Play Championships.

As arguably the finest young professional in the world, Mcllroy has captivated not only fans in his home country, but older European professionals like Sergio Garcia. Once a young, strapping, occasionally unique young player — i.e. Dave Schwartz's story about Garcia at the 1999 PGA Championship, as well as his ever-annoying re-gripping habits — Garcia sees a lot of charisma and even a little of himself in Mcllroy. Per the AP Story:

"He's what I was ten years ago," Garcia said.

Perhaps the best anecdote in the story is that Mcllroy kept Tiger Woods' 1997 scorecard from the Masters on his bedroom wall growing up as an amateur. Its been well-publicized that Woods kept the legendary Jack Nicklaus' records on his wall as a child and in that way, Mcllroy has been emulating the game's current greatest for years.

Mcllroy will likely never approach 14 or even Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships, for that matter, but he is clearly establishing himself as a tremendous young talent.

It will be fun to watch him emerge as a worldwide contender and climb the rankings over the course of this season and years to come.

Also, if you are looking for more good storywriting, check out Bob Harig's latest edition of birdies and bogeys in which he discusses Ernie Els' and his son's ongoing battle with autism.