Houston Open:Rory McIlroy is one of three Irishmen set to tee it up in this tomorrow's Houston Open alongside Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke. While the teenage sensation and major champion Harrington have one eye on next week's Masters, Clarke's agenda is altogether different - he is hoping for a big week to simply get the chance to tee it up at Augusta.

Clarke finds himself drinking in the last chance saloon and only a win at this week’s Houston Open will guarantee the Dungannon man a place in the first major of the season.

Despite Clarke’s popularity among his peers and around the globe, his stock is not what it once was, which means the world number 78 is not currently one of the 96 players scheduled to walk down Magnolia Lane. However, a win this week would change all that.

As for McIlroy, there are no limits to the 19-year-old’s stock and with each passing tournament he appears more at ease with his swift rise to the upper echelons of the game. Instead of watching his heroes on television he is now competing against them. And you sense McIlroy thrives on it.

“It’s taken a little time to get used to, to be honest,” McIlroy said on the eve of the Houston Open. “You’re watching guys like Tiger and Phil and Ernie on TV growing up and now you’re trying to beat them. That’s quite a cool feeling.”

McIlroy made an immediate impression since joining the paid ranks and he came to greater prominence in the States during last month’s Accenture Matchplay in Arizona where he lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winner Geoff Ogilvy in his first tournament as a professional on US soil.

“I probably played my best golf (in the States) in the first week of the Matchplay,” recalls McIlroy. “I came up against Geoff (Ogilvy) but he was too good that week. He blew everyone away.”

The world number 17 comes into this week’s event as one of the favourites (25/1 Paddy Power) behind market leader Phil Mickelson (15/2). And while he would like nothing better than to arrive at next week’s Masters as the most recent tour winner, he will take the opportunity to play shots at Redstone Golf Club he hopes will stand him in good stead at Augusta.

“Everyone says they do a great job of setting it up (Redstone) like Augusta. I played Augusta last Sunday and I’ve seen a lot of similarities when I played the front nine - the run-offs and the greens and the undulations around the greens. It’s a perfect week to obviously prepare for next week. It’s a big event and I would love to do well,” he added.

When asked if he intends to compete on the PGA Tour fulltime, McIlroy was forthright in his response. “No,” he said. “I’ll try and split my time between Europe and here (the States). I probably won’t join the PGA Tour for another couple of years but I definitely will in the future. Hopefully I can become a member and play my 15 events, plus my 12 over in Europe.”

The Dubai Desert Classic winner is also quickly learning how to handle the media and let his charismatic ways pervade in front of the microphone, particularly when he gets compared to Tiger Woods at the same age.

“It’s not a bad thing, I suppose. He’s a pretty good player,” quips McIlroy. “When you see what he did last week, it’s just incredible. It was his third tournament back after a nine-month lay-off and he gets into the hunt and was then able to pull it off. He didn’t look like he was too rusty,” he said in reference to Woods’ win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last weekend. Woods is not competing this week.

“Obviously it’s great to be compared to him but you have to set that aside and concentrate on what you can do to become a better player. If I can become the best I can be, and get anywhere near to where he is, I’ll have done very well.”

McIlroy has a lot of respect for Clarke, who has been a mentor to him for many years, but he certainly doesn’t feel any sympathy for the older player’s current plight.

“I’ve become very close with Darren (Clarke) over the last seven or eight years,” says McIlroy. “I was part of his foundation as a junior and he gave me his phone number when I was 13 and ever since then we’ve been pretty close and try to play practice rounds when we can.

“It’s nice to have someone like that, someone who can show me the ropes for the first few months on tour. But I don’t feel sympathy towards him (trying to get into the Masters).”

“Clarkey has played a lot of Masters. It would be great if he won this week and got in but, you know, he’s working hard trying to get back to the level where he was. Obviously he’s got talent, so you’ve got to think it’s just a matter of time before something clicks and he starts to play well again.”

Houston Open First round tee-times (all times Irish)

Starting at the First

13.20 Greg Owen (Eng), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
13.30 Troy Matteson, Luke Donald (Eng), Jonathan Kaye
13.40 Lee Westwood (Eng), Alex Cejka (Ger), John Mallinger
13.50 Angel Cabrera (Arg), Chez Reavie, Paul Goydos
14.00 Brian Gay, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), David Toms
14.10 Davis Love III, Andres Romero (Arg), Steve Stricker
14.20 Daniel Chopra (Swe), Johnson Wagner, Chad Campbell
14.30 J J Henry, Rich Beem, Ryan Moore
14.40 Jeff Maggert, Lucas Glover, Scott McCarron
14.50 Kevin Stadler, Bart Bryant, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind)
15.00 Casey Wittenberg, David Mathis, Peter Tomasulo
15.10 Chris Stroud, Aron Price (Aus), Derek Fathauer
18.10 Steve Allan (Aus), Notah Begay III, Nicholas Thompson
18.20 Tim Herron, Dudley Hart, Briny Baird
18.30 Justin Rose (Eng), Jeff Overton, Martin Kaymer (Ger)
18.40 Brian Bateman, Ryan Palmer, Kirk Triplett
18.50 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Ben Curtis, Stuart Appleby (Aus)
19.00 Vijay Singh (Fij), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
19.10 Chris Couch, Scott Verplank, Shaun Micheel
19.20 John Rollins, Jason Gore, Martin Laird (Sco)
19.30 Jason Bohn, Tommy Armour III, John Merrick
19.40 Scott Piercy, Steve Elkington (Aus), Rory McIlroy (NIrl)
19.50 D.A. Points, Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Keoke Cotner
20.00 Rick Price, Jason Dufner, Tim Thelen

Starting at 10th

13.20 Jay Williamson, Brandt Jobe, Kevin Na
13.30 Heath Slocum, Peter Lonard (Aus), Chris Riley
13.40 Eric Axley, Harrison Frazar, Bill Haas
13.50 Joe Ogilvie, J.B. Holmes, Greg Norman (Aus)
14.00 Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Charles Howell III
14.10 Pádraig Harrington (Irl), K J Choi (Kor), Charley Hoffman
14.20 Marc Turnesa, Michael Bradley, Fred Couples
14.30 Joe Durant, Bob Estes, Nick O'Hern (Aus)
14.40 Tim Petrovic, Glen Day, Kent Jones
14.50 Charlie Wi (Kor), John Huston, Matt Bettencourt
15.00 Jimmy Walker, Spencer Levin, Gary Woodland
15.10 Marc Leishman (Aus), James Nitties (Aus), Ricky Barnes
18.10 Brian Davis (Eng), Bo Van Pelt, Brad Adamonis
18.20 Paul Casey (Eng), Michael Letzig, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl)
18.30 Vaughn Taylor, Kevin Sutherland, Nathan Green (Aus)
18.40 Jonathan Byrd, Parker McLachlin, Brad Faxon
18.50 Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas (Col), Mark Calcavecchia
19.00 Ernie Els (Rsa), Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan
19.10 Ted Purdy, Dean Wilson, Robert Garrigus
19.20 Tom Pernice Jnr., David Duval, Michael Allen
19.30 Billy Mayfair, John Senden (Aus), David Berganio Jnr.
19.40 Ben Crane, Steve Marino, Robert Karlsson (Swe)
19.50 Darren Clarke (NIrl), Webb Simpson, Brendon Todd
20.00 Brendon De Jonge, Bill Lunde, Colt Knost