PHILIP REIDwatches the young Co Down man as he takes the American audiences by storm, not only with his outstanding abilities but also with his endearing personality

THERE’S SOMETHING wonderfully quaint about the first tee at Augusta National. There’s no wraparound horseshoe stand like the ones that have cropped up at other major venues and, instead, the spectators – ahem, patrons – stand around the tee box cordoned off from the players by a thin green rope. Acceptable segregation if you will, with the players and caddies only allowed inside the ropes.

Yesterday proved to be a good Friday for Rory McIlroy. Called to orders by the starter at 10.56 am, the Ulster teenager started his day with a straight drive down the middle. Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa, two years his junior, pulled his drive left into the pine trees. American Ryder Cup player Anthony Kim, two years his elder, pushed his opening drive into the fairway bunker. Welcome to an interesting three-ball, to the tales of the unexpected . . . and, sometimes, the spectacular. The future of the game.

If you think the Americans are an insular breed, forget it. They’ve taken McIlroy to their hearts, and there is something warming about the way this wild-haired kid from across the Atlantic ocean has been adopted. From Jack Nicklaus spying him in a shopping mall a few weeks ago and going out of his way to introduce himself, and inviting McIlroy to use his private practice facilities, to the way the crowds here have rooted for him. No insularity here, none at all.

Take yesterday. Although Tiger Woods was in the group ahead, the next generation – McIlroy, Kim and Ishikawa – attracted a huge, swarming gallery of their own. They were happy to catch occasional glimpses of the world’s number one ahead.

The speed with which McIlroy et al play is appealing. Blink, and you’re liable to miss a shot. It standing around waiting for the distraction of a butterfly landing in a field two miles away. These guys don’t stand on ceremony, assessing the shot and playing it.

McIlroy has been well and truly integrated into the hearts and souls of the American golfing public. His image is on the front cover of Sports Illustrated. It’s a big deal in a week, knocking Woods off the cover in a week when the prodigal Tiger has return from his majors hiatus and Pádraig Harrington is chasing a third straight major. It says it all, really. McIlroy is the real deal, and the Americans have cottoned on to it.

Yesterday, he was the talk of the course. Like this exchange between two well-seasoned American golf fans down by the fifth hole. McIlroy, for your information, had just gone birdie-birdie requiring no more than an 18-inch putt on the Par 5 fifth after a superbly controlled tee-shot.

“This kid McIlroy, he’s going to be around for a long time.” “Yep, he’s got that swagger too.” “Is that what we’re missing?” McIlroy has more than swagger. He has a swing that is uniquely his own, one which astounded experts at the Titleist High Performance Institute when the golfer paid a recent visit.

As Michael Bannon, his long-time coach and who has trekked every inch of Augusta National these past two days with his pupil puts it: “his swing is him – it has personality, it has flair.”

The galleries following Rory contains family and friends, and those who have supported him in reaching this stage so quickly. Stuart Paul, a former top amateur who looks after Titleist in Northern Ireland, can be seen outside the ropes. So too Jim Treacy, owner of the Lough Erne Golf Resort. The logo is prominent on McIlroy’s bag. But there are others, part of the growing army. Ian Botham, the legendary cricketer. Shane Filan of Westlife. All captivated, just like the Americans.

For his part, McIlroy just goes about his business. On Thursday evening, having holed a 10-footer on the 18th for par, he pulled down his cap over his eyes and exhaled deeply. Yesterday, in late morning, he was on the first tee and ready to continue an odyssey which had taken him from Holywood Golf Club in the hills of north Down to this piece of golfing paradise. It’s where he belongs, and he showed it.

McIlroy proceeded to show his full armoury of shots. From a superb approach to the third for birdie, to that wonderfully executed tee-shot on the fourth. When he got into trouble, as he did on the seventh where he pulled his drive into trees and ended with a bogey, he took his medicine and moved on.

On the eighth, he had an eagle putt but had to settle for a birdie. And on he went, swaggering around Amen Corner and eagling the 13th. Looking for all the world as if he has always belonged here, rather than a teenager playing in his first major as a professional.

When he bogeyed the 14th, doffing a recovery chip after missing the green with his approach, McIlroy’s response was to birdie the 15th. However, the fickle nature of golf reared its head on the 18th were he took a triple bogey seven to fall out of contention and faced an uphilll battle on the weekend.