Faith, Hope and Love - Three Secrets behind Northern Ireland’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 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? The towns of Portrush (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 Fred Daly (1947 Open Champion), Graeme McDowell (2010 US Open Champion, 6 European Tour wins, 3 Ryder Cups) and is now the home of Darren Clarke (2011 Open Champion, 14 European Tour wins, 3 PGA Tour wins, 5 Ryder Cups). Just down the road from Belfast 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 Ryder Cup. 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 Nick Faldo (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 Ulster 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 Walker Cup 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.