GOLF: Geoff Ogilvy has backed Rory McIlroy to continue rising through the world rankings after his impressive professional debut on US soil at the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona where the Australian currently leads Paul Casey in the final.
Ogilvy defeated McIlroy in the quarter-finals at Dove Mountain yesterday, the 19-year-old having earlier defeated Louis Oosthuizen, Hunter Mahan and Tim Clark, who defeated Tiger Woods.
And after seeing McIlroy in action for the first time, former US Open champion Ogilvy tipped the youngster to reach the top very quickly.
“He’s a very impressive golfer,” Ogilvy said. “It’s feasible that he’s going to be top two or three in the world within a year.
“I mean he’s that good. Physically, he’s got the whole package, but there’s other kids out there that have got the whole package, but his demeanour is fantastic.
“I think that the more he plays, the more different sorts of golf courses he plays, he’s just going to add more and more dimensions to his game and this will be the worst ranking he’s got for the next 10 years, what it is now.
“It’s only going to go up because he’s very impressive.”
McIlroy was ranked 17th at the start of the week but is likely to move up when the new rankings are released tomorrow.
Ogilvy revealed his caddie, Alistair “Squirrel” Matheson, had used McIlroy’s rising reputation to motivate him ahead of their quarter-final.
“Alastair said in the car on the way back, ‘If you want to be second best in the world, you’re going to have to be better than him’” the Australian added.
“He is by far the best young player I’ve ever played with. The hype is fair because he’s the real deal.”
Casey was happy to join the McIlroy hype yesterday following his semi-final win over compatriot Ross Fisher.
“I think Rory’s performance this week has been phenomenal for his first time in the United States,” Casey said. “He’s a class act. He’s an unbelievable player and I’m just very jealous of him.”
McIlroy, who will stay in the US to play next week’s Honda Classic and then the WGC-CA Championship at Doral, insisted he was not setting himself any lofty
ambitions in the short-term when asked if he wanted to overtake Tiger Woods as world number one.
“It would be great to get that accolade one day but I am just trying to play my golf, keep improving and see where it gets me,” McIlroy said.
“I am not trying to set any major goals like that as Tiger is Tiger and even after the operation he is going to come back great.
“He has been the best in the world for the last 10 years and I see no reason why he won’t be for another few years. I just want to try and get in the top 10 in the world and see how it goes from there.”
Ogilvy was three-up on Casey through eight holes. He immediately went one up with a birdie at the first before doubling his advantage when a par at the sixth was good enough. A second birdie at the eighth moved the 2006 winner three-up in the 36-hole contest.
