He was “a little bit chubby and pudgy” with “the whitest legs you’ve ever seen”, but at only 16 years of age, Rory McIlroy showed he destined for stardom on his first trip to Australia.
Twenty years ago, whispers spread around the golfing world of a talented teen from Northern Ireland and tournament organisers in Australia thought they better see what all the fuss was about.
McIlroy was invited to play in the now defunct Australian Masters in December of 2005 at Huntingdale in Melbourne’s world famous Sandbelt region.
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With father Gerry in tow to perform caddy duties, the McIlroys thought they better get more than a week out of their time in Melbourne and entered qualifying for the Australian Open two weeks before his shot at the gold jacket.
That decision created an unforgettable memory for Queensland amateur Matthew Toomey.
Fresh off landing in Melbourne, the McIlroys, along with budding English amateur Oliver Fisher and his father Rupert, made the journey down Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula to Rosebud Country Club.
“They hadn’t been to Australia before, and I don’t think they’d play any other rounds as they’d just flown in,” Toomey recalled to foxsports.com.au.
“And I don’t think there would have been too many times since where he would have had to pre-chop (qualify for) a pro tournament.
“In hindsight, it’s funny that he had to come down and pay whatever the entry fee was, $100 entry or so, and try to qualify for the Australian Open.”
With nearby Moonah Links playing host to that year’s Australian Open, Rosebud’s North Course was chosen as the site for Monday qualifying.
The championship course, which currently costs $110 for a public booking, is no slouch as it hosts an event on the PGA Tour of Australasia annually but is a far humbler setting than the prestigious clubs located in Melbourne.
That is why Toomey’s practice round with McIlroy and Fisher on Sunday 20 November, felt as if was a normal weekend social affair.
The accountant, who was daring to dream of qualifying for his national open, ended up with the pair of promising youngsters by chance, having called up the pro-shop the day prior to lock in a tee time.
“It’s just an absolute miracle that a 16-year-old kid that I played golf with 20 years ago is now a career grand slammer,” Toomey recalled.
Toomey was so taken aback by what he saw from the teenagers that he wrote a blog about it.
Over the years as McIlroy began collecting accolades, Toomey’s words – “these two are destined for bigger and better things” – became more prophetic.
“I remember I got a few holes in, and I was like, these guys are actually pretty good,” he said with a chuckle.
“The way they could shape the ball, and have the right clubs, and they had a really good attitude.
“I remember I was on one of the tees and we had a bit of a wait, so I was asking what have you done? And that was when Oliver said he’d played Walker Cup that year (the amateur version of the Ryder Cup) and Rory had won the Irish Amateur Close Championship, and I was like ‘oh okay’, and they were asking me what have you done?
“And I had nothing to say. I’m just a nuffy accountant from Brisbane.
“But you certainly knew they had talent.
“The fact they’d been invited to play in the Australian Masters and that’s the reason they were down in Australia in the first place – others had a view then that these guys could be special.”
Fisher was the then youngest ever golfer to play in a Walker Cup, while McIlroy still holds the record as the youngest person to ever win the Irish Amateur Close Championship, having done so at age 15.
Despite such early success, the thing that perhaps stood out the most to Toomey was the impressive attitudes of both young golfers.
“I was really impressed with their personalities. I’ve been around the golf industry for a long time, and you get kids who get a bit cocky, or they have the wrong attitude,” he said.
“I thought these two would be great role models for kids in Australia to see how these 16, 17-year-olds behaved.”
Neither of them had much to be frustrated by.
In the practice round, Fisher and McIlroy faced off in a friendly matchplay affair with the Englishman prevailing one-up.
It was the Northern Irishman, who got the last laugh the following day in the actual Monday qualifying event, however.
McIlroy shot a 69 to earn a place in a seven-way playoff for the fourth alternate position, which he won, while Fisher shot 72 to miss out.
Four people did then pull out of the Australian Open, and the future legend of the sport earned his fifth ever start in a professional event, and his first outside of the United Kingdom or Ireland.
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He missed the cut, shooting 73 and 79 as Robert Allenby went on to win the Australian Open.
“Today you wouldn’t get in as the fourth alternate, but back then it was a bit different because if anyone pulled out, back then it didn’t necessarily go to the next person with a tour card – it went to the qualifiers,” Toomey said.
“To win a seven-way playoff for one chance at an alternate to get in, I thought was pretty cool.”
A fortnight later, McIlroy did make the cut at the Australian Masters, finishing tied 49th as Allenby won again.
The youngster was also upstaged by travel partner with Fisher coming in tie for 13th – shooting the lowest final round with a 66 to share low amateur honours with future world No.1 Jason Day.
Fisher went on to become a European Tour player, picking up a victory in 2011, as well as playing in LIV Golf’s inaugural event in 2022.
McIlroy, meanwhile, quickly shot to superstardom.
“His rise was pretty meteoric,” Toomey said.
“It would have been only a year or two later that he was in contention at The Open as an amateur.
“Five and a half years later, he was winning a major championship.
“Stardom came pretty quickly compared to a lot of other pros.”
As McIlroy’s face became more recognisable around the world, Toomey had one regret from his round with the generational talent.
“I regret not getting a selfie or a photo but didn’t have an iPhone back then,” he said.
“I don’t know how many members of Rosebud would know that Rory played there,” he added.
“There’d no photos from that day, which is a shame really because if they had them, they’d hang them in the clubhouse.”
Toomey and McIlroy’s paths crossed once again eight years later, however.
Golf’s newest superstar ventured back to Australia for the third time in his life – having also played the Australian Open in 2006, coming tied 59th – for the 2013 Australian Open at Royal Sydney.
He played the role of party pooper on this occasion, outduelling Masters champion and Australian hero Adam Scott in the final round to lift the Stonehaven Cup.
Toomey was perhaps the only Australian in the clubhouse who was chuffed with McIlroy’s victory.
“He won the 2013 Australian Open and I was on the board of Golf Queensland then,” he recalled.
“They have a little after party afterwards in the clubhouse for the dignitaries, and he came in for ten minutes to do the obligatory stuff as the champion.
“As soon as he won, I was like, that’s it. I’m going to go and get a photo.
“And so I did, and I had a mate take a whole bunch of photos.
“Rory said he remembered the round and recognised me.
“He could just be saying that, but it’s pretty cool that he said that.”
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