Rory McIlroy's stock continues to rise and now the teenage sensation has just earned himself a place in next year's Open after winning the prestigious European Amateur Championship in Italy with three shots to spare.
The 17-year-old from Holywood, Co Down, held a two shot lead going into the final round at Biella Golf Club near Milan before firing a closing 68 for an 18-under winning aggregate to finish three ahead of England's Stephen Lawton in second.
"It's definitely my biggest win so far. It gets me into the Open so it's a special feeling," McIlroy told the BBC. "I was two under from my opening nine holes after birdieing two of the par-fives and while I did bogey the 10th, I played the last four holes in three under which was very pleasing.
"I was pretty relaxed going into today. I knew I was playing well and it was just a matter of holing a few putts when I needed to."
It has already been a wonderful season for McIlroy who began by successfully retaining his West of Ireland title over the Easter period at Rosses Point. He would go on to defend his Irish Close title at The European Club and was narrowly defeated in the Irish Amateur Open Championship in Portmarnock.
The list just goes on as he also picked up several Scratch Cup wins around Ireland, including the highly sought after Mullingar Scratch Cup.
As the newly crowned European Champion he follows in the footsteps of previous Irish winners including, Paddy Gribben; Stephen Browne and Brian McElhinney. It also means he earns a place at next year's Open Championship when it returns to Carnoustie in Scotland.
McIlroy intentionally decided to focus all his energies on the Amateur circuit this season - after admitting he got distracted by accepting invites to several European Tour events last year - and now looks certain to achieve his goal of making the Britain and Ireland team for next September's Walker Cup at Royal County Down.
