WHEN the Rory McIlroy Golf Museum eventually opens in Holywood, the recently engaged Down man's baby club will no doubt feature among the exhibits – he began playing the game as a toddler and by age two was hitting 40-yard drives.
Golf has been good to McIlroy, sometime number one in the game and ranked third in the world at the time of writing. In 2011 he became the youngest player ever to reach €10 million in career earnings on the European Tour, at just 22; the following year he became the youngest player to reach $10 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour in the United States.
But getting there took hard work and sacrifices.
An only child, McIlroy wasn't spoilt but his talent was nurtured by his devoted parents – from the start, he was encouraged by his father Gerry, who worked as bar steward at Holywood Golf Club.
His mum Rosie worked extra night shifts in a factory to fund her young son's passion whilehis dad took on three jobs at one point, including a stint cleaning showers and toilets.
McIlroy has said: "The rewards have made it all worthwhile" – rewards including the moment when Rosie, tearful with joy, was beckoned on to the green at Holylake, Liverpool, to celebrate his 2014 Open win.
The McIlroys lived in a terraced house at Church View, Holywood, and had a miniature putting green constructed in the garden for the golfing prodigy. By the age of nine McIlroy had achieved his first hole-in-one.
Gerry McIlroy was so confident in his son's ability that he put money on it. In 2004, he and three friends placed a £400 bet on his then 15-year-old offspring to win The Open before he was 25. The odds were 500-1.
When McIlroy confidently won the British Open last year, his father found himself £100,000 better off. But as the new champion – who made nearly £1 million himself – said, it really wasn't about the money.
"I don't think it matters so much to my dad any more, but the mates he did it with, I think they're a little happier."
Young McIlroy wasn't just a golf machine, though. St Patrick's Primary School has a photo of him in a First Communion group. While his fellow communicants look suitably solemn, Rory is seen sticking out his tongue. His teacher Geraldine Teer called him a "cheeky wee boy" and said if anybody was asking who killed Santa, it would be the sports mad McIlroy in P5.
Later on, at Sullivan Upper School, McIlroy remained sport-obsessed, and wrote recently in the school magazine: "I knew I wasn't going to end up being a doctor or a barrister – I wanted to play golf... I felt exams did not matter to me as much." School was also where he met Holly Sweeney, his first serious girlfriend.
She was always at McIlroy's side as his career as a junior began to take off after he left school at 16. Eventually they shared his mansion in Carryduff ; the relationship lasted six years.
The narrative arc of McIlroy's swift ascent to the upper echelons of golf, where he is European number one and was world number one for nearly two years, is as satisfying as his swing. Which means pretty damn good. As BBC golf commentator Ken Brown says, McIlroy's swing is probably the best in the business. "He has the most amazing back swing with a 90 degree shoulder turn, then – whoosh!"
But unlike that perfect connection between iron and little white ball, McIlroy's career to date has had just enough wobbles to make things interesting. In his private life, he has definitely been in the rough a couple of times. While living with Holly Sweeney, McIlroy admitted he fancied Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki as they watched a match on TV at home.
When he finally met Wozniacki at a boxing match in Germany, there was instant rapport – which didn't please the recently dumped Ms Sweeney – followed by a whirlwind romance. They even had a joint nickname, Wozzilroy.
But McIlroy's game declined. When the couple got engaged in May last year, after he tweeted a pic of the ring, they sent out the invitations but it seems the groom got cold feet. His official statement said: "There is no right way to end a relationship that has been so important to two people. The problem is mine. The wedding invitations... made me realise that I wasn’t ready for all that marriage entails."
Lo and behold, McIlroy's game improved. "Breaking up with Caroline made me a better golfer," he said.
Three weeks ago he got engaged to American Erica Stoll, who works for the PGA, the US professional golfers' association. Stoll, seen sporting her sparkler on McIlroy's home turf as the couple attended a Christmas charity ball in Belfast – famously saved the day by getting a police escort to rush McIlroy on course when he was about to miss tee time during the 2012 Ryder Cup.
That near no-show isn't the only indication of McIlroy's youth. In July this year an ankle ligament injury sustained while playing footie with his mates prevented him from defending his British Open title.
A social media nut, McIlroy has sometimes got into trouble via Twitter. In 2011 he had a spat with English player Lee Westwood after tweeting support for a Danish player in the Seve Trophy, where GB and Ireland play Europe. Westwood taunted McIlroy about his allegiance. Quick as one of his 120mph drives, McIlroy replied: "At least I'm not English."
McIlroy spends quite a bit of time down the gym, as his upper body definition indicates. But he doesn't seem to buy into sports psychology, certainly not to the extent of the likes of fellow golfer Padraig Harrington.
But he is good at accentuating the positive – that helped him return from a career blip at the 2011 American Masters when he commented that a bad score in one round was nothing compared to what some people suffer. As someone who, as a Unicef ambassador, visited Haiti and supports a children's cancer centre in Co Down, he surely knows the truth of that statement.
In short, Rory McIlroy MBE, with the golfing world at his carefully positioned feet and a Grand Slam beckoning, is the real deal. Alison Clarke, wife of McIlroy's friend and colleague Darren Clarke, has this to say: "Rory's a lovely, genuine down-to-Earth young gentleman with amazing talent."
BBC NI sports commentator Stephen Watson is equally enthusiastic. "Rory is one of the most grounded sportsmen I've ever met. He loves home, has never forgotten his roots and is as down-to-Earth as he was when I first met him at 13.
"He achieved so much so young because he is a simply a very special talent, but with the ability comes a lot of hard work and dedication. His parents are also a big factor in his success. I think it’s so refreshing that he can now look after them."
And yet McIlroy isn't blasé. In 2009 he said he'd taken out a contract with a private jet charter firm and mused: "It makes sense if it can get you an extra night in your own bed."
He added: "It’s incredible, ridiculous really, isn’t it? You realise you can make more money on the golf tour in one week than some people make in a lifetime."
