McIlroy prepared to bide his time

Rory McIlroy is coming to terms with the fact that getting to the top is likely to be a marathon and not a sprint.

Third at St Andrews in only his second start on the European Tour last year and then fourth in Madrid a week later, McIlroy earned his tour card in record time, was talked of a Ryder Cup prospect for this season and made the game look ridiculously easy.

Seven months on, though, the 19-year-old is down at 116th on the Order of Merit, 35th in the Ryder Cup standings — one place ahead of Colin Montgomerie — and still searching for his first top-10 finish of the year.

This week's Irish Open at Adare Manor would be a great time to remind everyone of his talent, however.

"I've tried to pace myself a bit this year and have my schedule so I was fresh coming into this stretch of events," stated McIlroy. "It's just a learning process, getting used to travelling to the Far East. I've never been to a place as hot or sweaty as Malaysia before, so it's a whole new experience for me.

"I think my progress has been okay. It hasn't been anything too spectacular but you really don't know what to expect. It's difficult to win on tour and my expectation for the year is to try to finish in the top 60 of the Order of Merit.

"The season is really only starting now with all of the big events coming up and hopefully I can challenge in a couple of them.

"After Dubai in February I took a few weeks off and when I came back and missed a couple of cuts I sort of realised that you can't really get complacent. You just have to keep working hard because all of the guys are working hard out here to try and beat you.

"One lesson I've learned is that you like expect that there's going to be a few hiccups along the way and learn how to deal with things.

"Those missed cuts have sort of given me a kick up the backside. I probably went too long without hitting balls or without practising."

If someone had looked into a crystal ball at the end of last year and said there would be four Irish winners in 2008 come the Irish Open McIlroy would have been high on the list of contenders — and Padraig Harrington, of course, would have been at the top.

But instead it is Graeme McDowell, Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke and Peter Lawrie who have tasted success.

Open champion Harrington is defending his title this week, though, and despite his missed cut at last week's Players Championship in Florida is favourite ahead of Lee Westwood, another who made an early exit from Sawgrass.