Walker Cup players Rory McIlroy and Lloyd Saltman will make their eagerly anticipated professional debuts when the first round of The Quinn Direct British Masters gets underway at The Belfry.
McIlroy announced he was leaving the amateur ranks after a glittering career and joining the management company International Sports Management (ISM), promoters of The Quinn Direct British Masters.
The 18 year old from Holywood in Northern Ireland will now be represented by the same company as Darren Clarke, Ernie Els, David Howell, Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley and Lee Westwood, among others.
As well as winning the Irish and European amateur titles and becoming the world’s top ranked amateur this year, McIlroy starred in The Open Championship at Carnoustie in July, lying joint third after an opening 68, the only bogey free round of the first day, and only two weeks ago earned a Walker Cup cap in his native Northern Ireland.
"We have followed Rory's progress over the last five successful and eventful years and are proud to have the chance to look after one of the most exciting players to turn professional in the last decade," said his new manager Andrew "Chubby" Chandler.
"I have known Chubby for a long time and been a friend of Darren Clarke's for some years now, so there really was no decision to be made," stated McIlroy, who successfully negotiated the first stage of the European Tour Qualifying School at The Oxfordshire last week.
Ten more rounds have still to be played if he is to earn his card for next season that way, but he can avoid the rest of the Qualifying School if he earns enough through his invitations into not only this week, but also the Dunhill Links championship in Scotland in two weeks' time and possibly three more events after that.
McIlroy has inevitably drawn comparisons with two other players who made an immediate mark on the professional game - Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia - who both won within two months of turning professional.
"It's nice to be mentioned in the same breath as Sergio and Tiger and if I can make a start like they did I will be very happy.
"I am not putting too much pressure on myself, but I would love to go out this week and play well.
"I think people have expectations of me and I have expectations of myself, so I hopefully I can play well and live up to the expectations. That's the way I'm looking at it.
"I'm hitting it well and I think this course suits me. I'm just going to try my hardest and hopefully the results will follow."
The Quinn Direct British Masters also sees a return to home soil for Ian Poulter with the Englishman one of the favourites for the title following a string of impressive performances in America where he gathered two top tens in the end of season FedEx Cup series on the US PGA Tour.
“I played exceptionally well over there, like I have done the last few months,” said Poulter, who will be getting married next week to his fiancée, Katie. “It was just a frustrating couple of weeks really with the putter which hopefully we're over that one now and I can roll some putts in on home soil. This should be quite nice.
“I like the golf course. I've played it well in the past and it's a great tournament. And with Ryder Cup points on offer now, I’ll try and put in a big performance, and then I have a great week off next week.”
Simon Dyson is another home player looking for a strong performance and hoping the omens are in his favour. Yesterday he was announced as a pick for Nick Faldo’s Great Britain and Ireland Seve Trophy team, a perfect boost ahead of The Quinn Direct British Masters.
Last time Dyson made a team was in the 1999 Walker Cup and when he learnt he had made that team, he went straight out and won the Finnish Amateur title.
“Hopefully I can do what I did there, because after I got the call I went out to the Finnish Amateur and won that, obviously I was buzzing having been picked for the team. So it would be nice to do that this week.”
