Yuppies Highlight - Babyface Assassin

First round of The British Open Championship (19 July 2007) at Carnoustie does not only shows the regular wizardry of champions such as Tiger Woods, Ernie Els or Vijay Singh but also the birth of possibly a new star.

Only 18 years of age and still an amateur player, he shot an opening round of 3 under par 68 (tied for third). Surprisingly, he is the only player in the whole field not to drop a shot in the first round. A majestic performance indeed!

For comparison, Tiger is at 2 under while Big Easy and Vij are at 1 over.

Rory McIlroy (born May 4, 1989) is an amateur golfer from Holywood, Northern Ireland. His home golf club is Holywood Golf Club.

McIlroy was a member of Europe's winning 2004 Junior Ryder Cup

team. In 2005 he became the youngest ever winner of both the West of Ireland Championship and the Irish Close Championship. He retained the West of Ireland Championship in 2006 and followed that up with back to back wins at the Irish Close Championship. In August 2006 he won the European Amateur Championship at Biella Golf Club, near Milan, Italy.

In July 2005 he shot a course record 61 at Royal Portrush

Golf Club. In October 2006 McIlroy represented Ireland in the Eisenhower Throphy, the Amateur World Team Championship. On 6 February 2007 he became the second man to top the World Amateur Golf Rankings, though he lost the top spot after just one week.

McIlroy made his first appearance in a European Tour event a few days after turning sixteen, when he took part in the 2005 British Masters. He made the cut on the European Tour for the first time as a seventeen year old at the 2007 Dubai Desert Classic, where he had to forego prize money of over €7,600 due to his amateur status. He plans to turn professional in autumn 2007, soon after the Walker Cup, and hopes to win a place on the European Tour at the 2007 Qualifying School.