Rory McIlroy took down the Dubai desert classic at the age of 19 for his first career win. This is an excellent tournament with many of the world’s top players and to win at such a young age makes a pretty strong statement. Past winners of this event include Ernie Els with three wins and Tiger with two wins.
This win should put him into the top 15 in the world rankings. "Ball-striking wise, he's better then Tiger was at 19. There's no reason why he can't win a Major," said Mark O'Meara. "He has the potential to become Europe's greatest ever golfer,” said Ernie Els. People have begun to compare him to Tiger at the same age, and as usual, I’m quite skeptical of this comparison.
We’ve heard these comparisons before with the other “young guns” such as Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Aaron Baddely, Justin Rose, Anthony Kim, and Camillo Villegas, to mention a few. The thing is, these players have a combined zero major wins. It’s all about major victories, by far the most important aspect to becoming one of the greats. McIlroy is only 19, has plenty of time to become a major winner, and this win was definitely a great step in the right direction.
