Rory McIlroy was always destined for greatness.
The Northern Irishman was chipping golf balls into washing machines on television talks shows when he was eight years old.
Everyone who encountered a young McIlroy remembers this aura, something that almost went beyond the realms of a sporting wonderkid.
Similarly to Tiger Woods, it felt like the things McIlroy could do at a young age should not be possible, even for a child so talented.
There is no better example than the day McIlroy shot 61 at Royal Portrush as a 16-year-old amateur.
It is widely considered one of the greatest rounds ever played – and the moment a future Grand Slam winner announced himself to the world.
Speaking to talkSPORT.com on Monday, with The Open back in his native Northern Ireland, the reigning Masters champion said: “I remember a little bit of it. I don’t remember a lot of it.
“I think I was nine-under for the last 10 holes. I had it going with the putter a little bit. It was certainly the first time I’d ever felt, like, in the zone or that flow state or whatever you want to call it.
“I think as well, this golf course has changed. It’s weird the way the original 17th and 18th have been taken out of this golf course and the new 7th and 8th have been put in.
“Harry [Diamond] and I were talking about the course last week, and he’s like, on the 12th hole — I’m like, that’s the 10th hole. He’s like, no, that’s the 12th.
“Even now I still remember this course the way it was and not the way it is for The Open.
“I played the Irish Open in 2012 but it was still the original golf course, so I’ve really only played two competitive rounds on this new golf course. It’s a little bit different.
McIlroy spoke to talkSPORT.com about his memories of breaking the course record at Royal Portrush as a 16-year-oldGetty“I think when I shot that 61 when I was 16, I had a little bit of a clue of what I was doing, but I certainly didn’t have as much of an understanding of the game or of my game as I do now.”
The year was 2005 and McIlroy was playing in the North of Ireland Championship.
He was coming off the back of a dreadful performance at the Scottish Open – which saw him miss the cut by 10 shots.
McIlroy, who had already won the West of Ireland and Irish Close titles that year, began with an even-par round at The Valley.
Dressed in white and pink, the teenager started his round at Portrush by missing a makeable birdie putt at the first.
It was not a sign of things to come.
McIlroy’s 61 at Royal Portrush in 2005 is the stuff of legend – and several hundred people were there to see itMcIlroy went out in three-under-par and then eagled the par-five tenth.
As he waited in the 11th fairway, the superstar golfer has since recalled exactly when the enormity of the moment became real to him.
“I saw the guy in front of us fist-pump when he holed a putt,” McIlroy recalled many years later. “I said to my playing partner, ‘Why would you be fist-pumping on the second day of qualifying at the North of Ireland Championship?’
“Then I held a putt on the 11th green to go six-under. Out of nowhere, I gave it a fist-pump. My playing partner said to me, ‘What was that you said about fist-pumping?’
“At that point, I realised I was doing something pretty special.”
That playing partner was Stephen Crowe, who then noticed that people were catching on.
The crowds drew bigger and bigger as word spread about the possible story that was developingCrowe later said: “The crowd started to swell. Word got about. And he was just making it look easier than it actually was.”
Indeed, even head pro Gary O’Neill was given the heads-up.
“Word started to come in that something was happening out there,” O’Neill recalled. “He was going deeper and deeper under par.”
Pars would follow at 12 and 13 before McIlroy arrived at ‘Calamity Corner’ – and he would leave questioning the meaning behind that name.
He hit a four-iron to within eight feet of the 215-yard par three and converted the putt.
Another two birdies would follow on 15 and 16, getting him to nine-under, which would be enough for the course record if he could par his way into the clubhouse.
The previous record was 64, shot by Randal Evans in 2002.
“I knew the record was 64,” McIlroy later said. “Once I got to minus-nine, I thought if I could par the remaining two and set the new record, that would be pretty special.”
Royal Portrush is not an easy golf course, but the old 17th was fairly routine – and McIlroy made it look that way despite the newly-added pressure, making a comfortable birdie after hitting the green in two.
A bogey on the 18th would have been enough for the record, but there was one more piece of magic to follow.
After finding that green in two as well, leaving himself 20 feet for birdie, McIlroy later said: “I just wanted to two-putt it. I didn’t care what the score was, I just wanted the course record.”
He only went and holed it, meaning the last 10 holes were played in nine-under-par.
This teenager had now shot the lowest ever score at Northern Ireland’s most prestigious course – by three shotsRoyal Portrush then called McIlroy’s coach Michael Bannon, who thought it was a joke.
Donal Casey, the former CEO of Rory McIlroy Inc and a golfer who played in the event, later said: “It was an earth-shattering score for a 16-year-old to shoot. You just wouldn’t have seen 61 out there.”
Darren Clarke had just finished his round at The Open, which was taking place at St Andrews, when he was bombarded with questions about this 16-year-old kid from Northern Ireland.
His compatriot Graeme McDowell later recalled: “You hear about the next great thing, ‘We’ve got this kid, he’s playing at plus-4 and blah, blah, blah’.
“Then he shot 61 at the North of Ireland and I’m like, ‘Really? OK. Hold on. Now I have to pay a little more attention.’
“That was probably the first time that we realised we had something pretty special on our hands.”
As for McIlroy, he would go on to win qualifying but lose to Andrew Pitcher in the knockout stages.
Nevertheless, he later reflected fondly on the ‘cockiness’ that allowed him to get the job done.
“It felt normal to me,” McIlroy later said. “I had that cockiness and thought this was what I was supposed to do.
“It is only when time goes on that I realise these things are special and you should savour them. Sometimes I think I should be more like that kid.”
Meanwhile, Royal Portrush would undergo significant changes, so much so that McIlroy’s record is only seen to be reflective of the old layout.
His return to the famous venue for The Open in 2019 was disastrous – and he would miss the cut after a shocking first round – despite bouncing back with an electrifying 65 on Friday.
Lowry dominated the field in 2019 to win by six shots on 15-under-parGettyIt is his best mate Shane Lowry who holds the record on the new layout – shooting an astonishing 63 during his romp to the 2019 Open title.
You can bet McIlroy will be chasing more than just his old record when The 153rd Open begins on Thursday – live on talkSPORT 2 at 7am.
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