Faith, Hope and Love - Three Secrets behind Northern ’s Major Winners

Faith [feiθ] noun, have faith Complete trust or confidence in someone or something

Hope [heop] noun, verb, hoped, hop-ing Feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen or be true

Love [lΛv] noun, verb, loved, lov·ing Feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend

How can a relatively small region like (population 1.8m) possibly produce a succession of major winners in , at a time when the competitive intensity at the top of the world game is at its greatest in living memory? The towns of (population 7000) and Holywood (population 12,000) are two small communities in Northern Ireland, yet both have given birth to and nurtured major champions in golf.

Portrush is the home of (1947 Open Champion), Graeme McDowell (2010 US Open Champion, 6 European Tour wins, 3 Ryder Cups) and is now the home of (2011 Open Champion, 14 European Tour wins, 3 PGA Tour wins, 5 Ryder Cups). Just down the road from in Northern Ireland is Holywood, the home of Rory McIlroy, the World’s Number 1 golfer and already a 2 time major winner at 23 and winner of the order of merit on both sides of the Atlantic in 2012. He has also won 6 times on the US PGA Tour and 5 times on the European Tour, representing Europe twice in the . McDowell, McIlroy and Clarke with Harrington and McGinlay

How can these relatively isolated, relatively communities produce such globally competitive athletes? What special ingredients existed in Northern Ireland that enabled these champions to grow their talent from aged 8-18 to create the platform for their success at the pinnacle of the world class in their sport? Are there lessons that can enhance performance plans and talent development strategies?

Over the last two years I have been privileged to gain a unique insight into what is behind the success achieved by Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. Through interviews and conversations with the golfers, their families and close associates it is clear theirs is a story of faith, hope and love rather than science or system and more about people than process.

In the beginning my aim was to test and validate the questions posed by three core principles in Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’1: • Was the 10,000 hour standard achieved between 8-18 years? • Were ‘best vs best’ opportunities given to the players to sharpen their competitive abilities? • Do ‘troubles’ such as those endured in Northern Ireland have any influence on the development of talent?

1 Malcolm Gladwell: ‘Outliers – The Story of Success’ ISBN:9780141036250

1 I hope this article is of interest and a challenge to those designing high performance programmes in sport and business, and at the same time gives credibility to a different emphasis when nurturing talent capable of performing in the world class.

Rory and Graeme – two different players; two different routes to the top Born 10 years apart Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell took different routes to the summit of golf, yet as I will argue, there are considerable similarities in the environment they experienced that enable them to build and hone their skills that would eventually lead to Major success.

Rory McIlroy’s rise to the top of the world in 5 years from turning professional at 17 has been meteoric. Sport and golf were clearly ingredients in his DNA. His uncle on his mother’s side had played Gaelic Football for Armagh and Gerry, his father and uncles (on his father’s side) were all low handicap golfers. Rory’s early interest began in the pram accompanying his parents to the club. Starting left handed with plastic clubs and barely out of the pram, the videos of him chipping balls into the washing machine are now the stuff of legend.

McIlroy showed an early interest in (winner of 6 Majors, 9 US PGA Tour and 30 European Tour wins, 11 Ryder Cups). Rory’s talent was clear from an early age and at age 8, with the brashness of youth he played with his elders (aged 12-13) at Holywood Golf Club. At 10 he entered the Callaway Junior World Championships in 1999 finishing 8th, before winning the event the following year.

Rory McIlroy with father Gerry

At that point Gerry and Rosie clearly recognised Rory’s talent and potential. Both worked extra hours in their jobs to support the increasing cost of Rory’s participation in the game, Gerry taking a bar job at Holywood Golf Club. In their words they used ‘all their efforts’ to assure the future success of their only child. Rory responded and the mutual respect between prodigy and parents is obvious, as is the respect shown by Holywood Golf Club to its young talents. The love and respect shown by the club to their younger members is an example for all to follow. There is not an issue of access to the course for young people at Hollywood. The club has 200 junior members of whom 30% are girls. It is open all day, every day for its youth and the young McIlroy took full advantage of the support and access he was afforded. Winning the Boys at age 13 and the Irish Boys the next year were further signs of his outrageous talent. In 2005 (age 16) he won the West of Ireland and Irish Amateur Close Championships.

Naturally gifted at soccer and cricket as well as golf his talent was recognised and nurtured at Holywood. Gerry asked Michael Bannon to coach Rory at age 8 and he has remained at his side ever since as a constant source of advice, turning full-time only in 2012. Not for Bannon the aspiration to become the next swing guru or publish the ‘reveal all’ blockbuster. The Bangor Golf Club professional is more than happy to play a retiring supportive role in one of Northern Ireland’s greatest sporting adventures. Rory McIlroy with Michael Bannon

He was professional at Holywood when he first came across Rory. “Rory owns his own swing. It’s not Michael Bannon’s” he once said in an interview. “I am not just a technical coach. I coach him on having a positive attitude and talk to him about course management. Once I’d watched Rory play, I wouldn’t want to watch anyone else hit a ball, his swing is so good.”

McIlroy played little junior golf, preferring to test himself against his elders. Winning the Irish Youth Championships (age 15) – a tournament for Under 21 players with participants from other

2 nations – did little to convince him to spend successive years defending junior titles. Driving back to Holywood with Gerry after winning the event he vowed never to play in the Irish Youth Championships again.

At 16 Rory McIlroy was probably given the best bit of advice he ever received from his father. Gerry had the usual parental interview with the headmaster of Sullivan Upper School. The school motto, which is printed on all the school blazers, is ‘Lamh Foisdineach An Uachtar’, which is Irish for "with the gentle hand foremost". With his gentle hand foremost, John Stevenson - the headmaster - advised Gerry that ‘Rory is never going to be a doctor or a dentist’ and proposed that Rory finish school a year early to pursue his passion with golf and get on the road to fulfill his potential. Rory joined Team Faldo winning an event in Hong Kong. The second piece of good advice came when he was offered a place on the University of East Tennessee State’s golf programme. McIlroy duly signed a letter of intent but on the advice of Sam Torrance (21 European Tour wins, 8 Ryder Cups) never crossed the Atlantic. Torrance believed he was too good technically and that he would benefit more from turning professional sooner rather than later. So at age 17 Northern Ireland’s outrageous talent played for GB and Ireland in the at Royal County Down Golf Club in Northern Ireland and launched himself, as a fledgling professional, on the European Tour to take it and the world of golf by storm.

In 5 years as a professional he has enjoyed more elation, has endured as much gut wrenching frustration and failure as many of his peers experience in a lifetime. Above all his ability to learn from these experiences has propelled him to the top of the golfing world and has armed him for the battle to stay there.

Graeme McDowell’s route to the top was longer, more measured, planned and incremental. It was in 2010, at the age of 31, that the dominoes fell for him in a big way. Golf does not appear to have been in the DNA of the McDowell family. Graeme’s father Kenny was predominantly a weekend golfer and although Graeme and his brother grew up being coached golf by their uncle Uel, he was not a blood relative.

Graeme Macdowell with father Kenny

Graeme was “OK” at most sports but was not outstanding at any. He grew up playing golf at his local club, Rathmore in Portrush, which had a thriving junior golf scene, where his father and uncle were actively involved. Around 30-40 young players regularly played in tournaments and were notably encouraged by their seniors with enjoyment of the game paramount. Graeme’s father was the junior golf convenor at the club so the game of golf was very much part of the family’s lives growing up. Portrush is also home to one of the greatest championship golf courses in the world and a former venue for . Players do the hard yards learning how to play in harsh weather and an economic environment that is tough.

By the age of twelve McDowell was playing golf at least 20 hours a week and it was clear that he had a deep interest in and enthusiasm for the sport. His first coach was his uncle Uel and he credits his success to the great grounding and stable introduction to the game his uncle gave him. His uncle was not a PGA golf coach or player, but he was a good all round golfer with a great eye for the game and a swing. He kept things simple for McDowell as a youngster. McDowell acknowledges his uncle Uel is without doubt his unsung hero.

McDowell was very inquisitive as a youngster, always searching and wanting to learn more. He says himself that if an outsider had looked at him and his brother when they were young they probably would have said his brother was more likely to become a major winner. Just as McIlroy chose Nick Faldo as his role model, McDowell watched video footage of Steve Elkington (1 Major, 10 US PGA Tour wins) to model his swing, However Graeme’s desire to better himself and his own competitive spirit have clearly contributed to his success today. He always had a great attitude to hard work and practice and in his own words has been a grinder.

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While growing up McDowell didn’t see himself as a major winner. He constantly set himself achievable targets and goals and worked towards them. He would pick a particular golfer he admired and work towards bettering himself to that standard. He would continually repeat that process throughout his formative years.

The late Severiano Ballesteros was another very influential role model who inspired McDowell, as he did many others of his generation. McDowell was fixated with statistics and hungry for information on swing and technique and often videoed leading players to emulate his swing technique.

McDowell won 6 amateur titles during his early career. He spent a year at Queen’s University, Belfast and played for the University Golf team, but realised their goals were more social than competitive, so when he was offered the chance to go to the US on a scholarship at the University of Alabama-Birmingham he grabbed it with both hands. He credits his University days within the Collegiate system in the US as a major factor in the transformation of his golf. Graeme believes the environment of golf in the states is hugely beneficial for the development of the game in youngsters. Golf is very much geared to families and kids and although some exclusivity still exists there is generally more accessibility for young people to play than in the UK and Ireland.

The competitive scene in the US is also much more intense than in the UK and Ireland. In Ireland/Ulster there would have been no more than 10 tournaments per season, but in the US he would play at least double that number. Coming up against top competition (best vs best) competition helped to raise his golf to a different level.

McDowell was a leading NCAA player and had a better average stroke/round (69) in his last NCAA season than (Stanford). High standards were set on and off the course.

There was no tolerance for slippage in academic studies. He achieved the following at the University of Alabama in Birmingham: • Awarded Fred for top golfer in the nation in 2002 • 2002 Golfstat award recipient (given to golfer with lowest average) • Two-time Ping All-American (2002 and 2001) • Two-time Conference USA Player of the Year (2002 and 2001) • Nine tournament victories and 24 top-10 finishes

“I came here as a pretty average amateur golfer and left ready to set out on the pro ranks,” McDowell said on a recent return visit to Birmingham, acknowledging his growth on coach Alan Kaufman’s team. “I was very lucky to end up at a college like UAB with a golf program like this.” He returned after University in the States that his golf had completely changed. He won 5 amateur titles that year and it was obvious that his game had been transformed to a new level.

The Love of the Family and Club There is no doubt the environment in which both grew up played a huge part in their success. Golf was very much part of a stable family life and was an interest the young players shared and enjoyed with their family at home and the extended family in the club. This, coupled with their inquisitive nature/desire to better themselves, and the encouragement and support of their parents, coaches and mentors laid the solid foundations for future golf successes.

It is clear that the environment created in their clubs’ junior sections together with the family involvement in the club and the coaching provided by family and friends were key factors contributing to their interest and enjoyment of the game, which ultimately led them to work harder at improving themselves. The focus on early years coaching was on learning rather than instruction on technical aspects of golf. They were both given time and space to learn to play at their own pace.

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Where McIlroy differs from McDowell is in his early ambition to join the pro ranks and be the best in the world. Common to both is a belief that success comes from sustained hard work and both clearly exemplify a healthy practice ethic, values that are still held dear in Celtic society. As a youth McIlroy preferred the practice ground to the game boy console. McDowell preferring the golf course to the attractions of Kellys’ night club complex in Portrush.

Interestingly Northern Ireland’s ‘troubles’ have had little impact on the development of both players. (Gladwell indicated that challenging environments might be the breeding ground of champions). McDowell is from a mixed Protestant/Catholic family and McIlroy’s parents are both Catholic by denomination. Both are comfortable to be Irish and British and thankfully most of their fans fall in line. Both came from strong communities in Holywood and Portrush where the sense of community was far stringer than any sectarian interest, and neither was exposed directly to significant violence, though McIlroy’s great uncle (Joe) lost his life to Ulster Volunteer Force terrorists in 1972. Portrush had few incidents and in many ways was isolated from the atrocities in the likes of Belfast and Londonderry

Irish Golf – National Governing Body Love Many world-class athletes often comment that they have succeeded despite the performance system put in place by their sport. In Irish Golf we find something completely different. It can be argued that Ireland’s provincial system and the approach to allowing young talent to develop played an important part in the development of McIlroy and McDowell.

Both players felt Irish golf set up was generally better and more competitive than that in Ulster. Starting to compete within Ireland helped both McIlroy and McDowell develop their game to the next stage.

Irish sport is quite different. Most young people are introduced to sport and physical activity through Gaelic games – football and hurling, which are an integral part of the local community. Where the likes of Scotland and England struggle to find identity for their golfers in a structure made up of 15 Areas and 50 counties, respectively, the four-province set up delivers many benefits in terms of focus, scale, pride in performance and teamwork – all key ingredients underpinning high performance. It works in rugby union where three of the four provincial teams regularly compete in the final stage of the Heineken Cup. Young rugby players and other athletes grow up aspiring to play for Ulster, Munster or Leinster. There is inter-pro competition from an early age (best vs best) and also teams representing Ireland who go abroad to compete against other national age group squads. This is clearly the case in the island of Ireland at national and provincial level.

Any good performance system in sport must have 5 main attributes: • An engine that continuously produces sufficient players and coaches to population the talent pathway • A structured, simple, systematic yet sensitive performance system that holds features such as ’10,000 hours’ and ‘best vs best’ as two essential platforms on the early teenage years • An infrastructure of people (coaches, mentors and administrators) as well as facilities and processes with real capability to nurture and grow talent, keeping young players’ emotional tanks full as they journey along the pathway • A supportive, demanding and respectful culture amongst the key stakeholders that honours the game and participants as individuals as well as celebrating performance • A strong feeling of ‘team’ even in individual sports that fosters pride and value being part of a team

These principles are reinforced by Catherine Freeman who won 75% of finals (Olympic Games, World Championships and Commonwealth Games) she ran over a 13-year period. When asked what underpinned her phenomenal success as an athlete, she replied that is was:

5 • Her body, designed to run 400m incredibly well and one that was additive free • Her heart that was filled with passion when she ran • Her mind that enabled her to understand how well she was running relative to others in the race and what was required to win • Her spirit – she ran not only for herself – she also ran for her family, her community, the Aborigine nation and for Australia.

There was no way she was going to lose on Magic Monday at the Sydney Olympics as she won gold in the 400m.

In its own way Irish Golf has developed (in my view not necessarily as a result of deliberate strategy or action) a world-class system that enables young golfers with ambition, positive attitude towards hard work and self-belief to achieve their goals.

Northern Ireland – loves to keep you grounded When both McIlroy and McDowell return to Northern Ireland people treat them the same way when they were young, with love and respect. McDowell recollected ‘They give me a good slap if I need one. It’s great. It puts life in perspective for me. Private jets and frickin’ desert islands and playing for millions of dollars. I go back home and see the real world. My buddies tell me what they think. It keeps me grounded. It’s what real friends are like.” These are views endorsed by Dame , Northern Ireland’s Olympic Pentathlon champion in 1972.

Northern Ireland is well insulated, for a variety of reasons, from the frenzied, headline grabbing tabloid driven world of much of the United Kingdom’s media. Talented sports men and women can be developed there, ready for the world class in a caring and supportive environment. Winning is redefined as being the ‘best you can be’. Northern Ireland’s isolation has cost it economically and socially yet paradoxically it has enabled it to create an environment where limited numbers of talented athletes, musicians and academics (to name a few) can flourish. Values, established by their forefathers, remain strong.

There is undoubtedly something in the history, culture and attitudes of people in Northern Ireland and communities and clubs like those in Portrush and in Holywood that influenced the development of both golfers and contributed hugely to their ultimate success.

So What? In trying to adequately draw conclusions from a unique and privileged insight into two great golfers and their development through their early years, I found myself challenging part of the accepted wisdom around the development of performance athletes.

In an era where hard science and medicine is often preferred to soft feelings and emotions, process promoted over people, and facts valued over opinion, I believe there are special ingredients that deserve greater emphasis over the driven and focused attention to data and detail.

The Author with Graeme McDowell at Kingsbarns

McIlroy and McDowell more than adequately repaid the faith and hope their parents, their communities and clubs had in them. Too often talented youngsters are driven from their sport by over zealous parents and coaches trying to achieve their unfulfilled hope and ambitions for themselves through their children. The faith, hope and love - tough love at times - as shown to Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell during their early formative years undoubtedly made a difference. This shines through in a number of critical areas: • Support and encouragement to inspire and sustain them during at least 10,000 hours of purposeful practice between the ages of 8-18 – delivered by family, community and clubs

6 • Part of a talent development system, relatively unique to Ireland that provided a calendar of events and opportunities for players to play ‘best vs best’ as well as valuing the importance of the ‘team’ playing for their province and country • The culture that challenged and supported them to succeed while at the same time respecting their need to learn to play, avoiding the hard, instructive technical input of skill, technique, science and medicine until demanded by the athlete as part of their development • Encouragement to adopt values and mutual respect, at the same time honouring the great game of golf • Regular inputs from coaches and mentors to keep their emotional tank full, at the low points, as well as after the Major victories.

Leaders of performance management systems will draw a number of conclusions and lessons from the development of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. They would do well to replicate the environment described above that continues to deliver outstanding performers, now driven by real role models and champions. They would be wise to challenge the hard:soft balance of their talent and performance development programmes to make sure there is room for faith, hope and love to flourish.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”2.

Alistair Gray February 2013

2 ‘The Bible: St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, Verse 13

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Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the support and encouragement given to me during the course of the research. This especially includes the golfers, their fathers Gerry McIlroy and Kenny McDowell; Ian Webb, the former Chair of the General Committee of the R&A, Duncan Weir and Peter Dawson at the R&A for their encouragement; Joe Macnamara and Pat Finn of the Irish Golfing Union. Their agents also enabled communication to take place. I would also like to acknowledge the contribution from Dr Stephen Martin of the Olympic Council of Ireland and Gary Keegan of the Irish Institute of Sport for the work they are doing to transform high performance , with faith, hope and love.

In addition Sheila (my wife), Judy and Rick at the Winning Scotland Foundation and Dame Mary Peters helped me get this over the line. They are all great talents in their own right, reared and nurtured in Northern Ireland.

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Synopsis How can a relatively small region like Northern Ireland (population 1.8m) possibly produce a succession of major winners in golf at a time when the competitive intensity at the top of the world game is at its greatest in living memory?

Over the last two years I have been privileged to gain access to various individuals, including the golfers themselves, who gave me special insight into what influenced the positive development of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in their early years. The attached article reflects Malcolm Gladwell’s theories in Outliers, and is also a story of faith, hope and love.

In an era where hard science and medicine are often preferred to soft feelings and emotions, process promoted over people, and facts valued over opinion, I found there are special ingredients that had a profound influence on the way both golfers developed, albeit reaching the top (major victories) by different routes. Those ingredients are faith, hope and love - tough love at times, but genuine love and respect as shown to both. Faith, hope and love were evident in a number of critical areas: • Support and encouragement to inspire and sustain them delivered by family, community and clubs • In a talent development system, relatively unique to Ireland • The culture that challenged and supported them to succeed while at the same time respecting their need to learn to play over receipt of instruction • Encouragement to adopt values and mutual respect, and honouring the great game of golf • Regular inputs from coaches and mentors to keep their emotional tank full, at the low points, as well as celebrating the Major victories.

Leaders of performance management systems will draw a number of conclusions and lessons from the development of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. They would do well to replicate the environment described above that continues to deliver outstanding performers, now driven by real role models and champions. They would be wise to challenge the hard:soft balance of their talent and performance development programmes to make sure there is room for faith, hope and love to prosper.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” The Bible: St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, Verse 13

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