McIlroy's serenity makes him most exciting player

St Andrews: The freckle-faced boy from Holywood, County Down, is writing the type of script that would go down well in his hometown's American namesake.

"I'm from the other Hollywood," began one reporter, and Rory McIlroy knew what question was coming. He had crafted the first act of his St Andrews Open to perfection, but did he believe in Tinseltown endings?

First he went all modest but then, with the smile of one who had just glimpsed the prize within reach, he said: "There would be no better place to do it."

McIlroy's genius rests in his combination of a game to conquer the Old Course with a casual demeanour normally suited to a municipal pitch-and-putt.

The relaxed way the 21 year-old reeled off a 63 was eerily reminiscent of his attitude during the Sunday 62 that sealed his victory in North Carolina's Quail Hollow Championship earlier this year. Different circumstances, but the same placid Rory: McIlroy has proved here, if only by his serenity, that he is perhaps the most exciting player in the world today. He is, categorically, the most explosive.

Motivated

Graeme McDowell, a great friend in Northern Ireland — and the US Open champion — admitted after they played a round together at Royal County Down that he had never seen McIlroy so motivated for a major.

"I always thought that with another two or three years of development in my game, I'd be ready to challenge for majors," McIlroy explained. "But seeing Graeme win at Pebble Beach made me realise that it might not be so far away." Arguably, it was the impetus he required.

After the announcement of "G-Mac" in the big league, welcome "R-Mac".

Tiger Woods himself was impressed as McIlroy continued to detonate the loudest roars from the galleries a couple of holes ahead.

"Rory's doing what he needs to do," the world No 1 said. "He knows how to win tournaments, and he'll be fine."

But if the Claret Jug is not to drift out of sight today, he and the rest have to trust that McIlroy at least becomes ruffled.

The argument against that possibility is made by McIlroy's Old Course record. His form at this place is, to be blunt, frightening, and worth recording in full. Scores from his nine rounds, which encompass three Dunhill Links Championships, one St Andrews Links Trophy as an amateur — and a quarter of one Open — read as follows: 69, 69, 67, 68, 67, 68, 65, 69, 63. The preservation of such sub-70 pedigree until Sunday would surely be sufficient for McIlroy to be the second Northern Irish major winner in a month.

"I said I wouldn't like to be the only Irishman at the Ryder Cup without a major," he said, grinning. "I'm coming to St Andrews with a lot of great memories. It fits my eye well. You have to be so inventive, so imaginative, cutting shots up in the air or running them into the greens."