European Tour Insider: Keep an eye on young McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy captured his first title on the European Tour last week at the Dubai Desert Classic.

Editor's note: Nick Dye is going to be giving PGATOUR.COM viewers an inside look at what's happening on the European Tour. Dye, who works with European Tour Radio, will be at more than 30 events this year and will file weekly columns on Wednesdays.

Mark O'Meara had some heady praise for Northern Ireland teenager Rory McIlroy.

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"Ball-striking wise, he's probably better than Tiger was at 19," the former British Open and Masters champion said. "His technique, I think, is better. People have expected a lot of him ... and they are going to see what he can do."

O'Meara shared the first two rounds with McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic. The young man from Holywood led after each, and went on to dominate the event to record his first European Tour victory.

McIlroy is said to have launched a ball 40 yards as a 2-year-old, and has long been feted in his home country. He'd made two appearances as an amateur in Dubai, making the cut in the latter before enthralling a world audience when he produced the only bogey-free round of the first day of the Open at Carnoustie in 2007.

McIlroy turned professional soon afterwards and went on to earn playing rights for the following season in double-quick time.

Playoff defeats in Switzerland and Hong Kong cemented the view that he would win soon, although as he frittered away a six-stroke lead in Dubai last week, there were reminders of how he'd faltered at Crans-sur-Sierre.

"You watch it on TV, and you see guys coming down the stretch with a four- or five-shot lead, and you think it's easy, and it's not", he said after winning by one stroke and succeeding Tiger Woods as Dubai's champion.

And in the same way that we don't really need to use Tiger's surname, you suspect Rory will be a name on everyone's lips over coming years.

MONTY MAGIC

Montgomerie

European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie is proving hugely popular with his fellow European pros.

Rory reckons: "He's going to be a great captain. Even if I don't get on (the team), I'll try to be nice to him, and he might give me the pick."

Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey both call Montgomerie "Ryder Cup Man" -- a new superhero to lead Europe's quest to regain the Holy Grail.

Young Englishman Ross Fisher played alongside Monty in Dubai. When the eight- times Order of Merit winner had an awkward shot to make, Fisher overhead him saying: "I can do this, I can do this. I'm the Ryder Cup captain, I can do this!"

LUCKY LOUIS

The 26-year-old Louis Oosthuizen has had a Desert Swing to cherish. He was second in Abu Dhabi and Qatar and seventh in Dubai where he had the fortune of holing a 7-iron over 168 yards for a hole-in-one.

The ace was his first in competition, and the first in 13 years when, as a teenager back home in South Africa, he'd also managed the feat.

"It was the same distance to be honest, but the only difference was that it was a 3-iron," he said. Ah, but the luck ran out in that there was no prize for the ace.

I'LL GIVE YOU THE EARTH

Rose

The venue for the Dubai World Championship has been unveiled with five of Europe's top pros playing "one of the most challenging and exciting miles in golf." Those are the words of Greg Norman, the designer of the Earth course, which will be the venue for the event which settles the Race to Dubai.

Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Justin Rose, Robert Karlsson and Martin Kaymer were all mic'd up to play the "Green Mile" -- the last four holes of the new track.

Comments were positive, even from Rose who watched his ball bounce Dambusters-style over the 250 yard-plus carry over the lake to the 18th fairway. The par 5 plays to 651 yards and has a rock-lined burn weaving much of its length.

Rose called it a "true par 5 -- you can't really chase eagle," though it might be tempting with the huge riches on offer at the last event of the season.

IN ONE'S PALM

Spanish Open champion Peter Lawrie found himself in an unexpected and unfortunate situation at the Emirates course in Dubai. His ball nestled at the top of a palm tree. He was tempted to get a ladder, and try a Bernhard Langer-style escape, but on closer inspection, he declined, saying, "I couldn't play it, not even with two chainsaws."

DESTINATION DELHI

It's a week off this week for the European Tour prior to the Malaysian Open. Last year, the pros took a relatively short flight from Dubai to Delhi for the inaugural Indian Masters, but that event has been shelved in the current financial climate. The Golf in Dubai company which staged that first event is adamant it will be back on schedule in coming years.