Top 100 TOUR Players to Watch in 2010: No. 11

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Dec. 23, 2009

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All eyes will be on Rory McIlroy as he adds a PGA TOUR card to his European Tour membership in 2010. And nearly everyone expects the wunderkind from Northern Ireland to have an immediate impact on both sides of the Atlantic. The 20-year-old played with the poise of a player many years his elder as he made his American debut and reached the quarterfinals of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. McIlroy handled the pressure of the big events with supreme confidence - finishing 20th or better in three of the four majors, including 10th at the U.S. Open and third at the PGA Championship. McIlroy also won his first European Tour event in 2009 and challenged for the Order of Merit title. He was attracted to the PGA TOUR's more robust schedule and solid economic base but don't expect to see him more than 15 times or so. After all, this is a Ryder Cup year and he wants to represent Europe at the K Club in Wales.


Welcome to the U.S. -- now it is time to see what you've really got. He has time and talent on his side but he still needs a haircut.

He birdied exactly half of the par-5s he played in 2009, which ranked fourth. One reason: He was first in approaches from 250-275 yards, hitting them to 45 feet, two inches on average.

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