Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Rory Mcilroy, Golf, Northern Ireland
Ben McCrum
Rory McIlroy was left disappointed after mentoring a young Northern Irish player to become golf's next big star.
It's been 26 years since a nine year old boy from Hollywood, Northern Ireland, appeared on national television to show off his golfing talent and talk about chipping balls into his mum's washing machine.
Of course now, that little boy is one of the greatest golf players of all time, becoming the first European player to complete the golf grand slam of winning all four major championships.
Since the rise of McIlroy, many golf fans have been on the lookout for another young player to step up and become the next big name to represent Northern Ireland.
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Eventually, Belfast's Tom McKibbin emerged as a potential future talent, with McIlroy himself even working mentoring the young player, but the world no.2 has since been left disappointed by one of his potential protege major career choices.
Back when he was a junior player, McKibbin began to impress while playing at the same Hollywood Golf Club where McIlroy first picked up a club.
McIlroy met the young star when he was just ten years old, offering advice and guidance through his early career which McKibbin himself said was paramount to his success when he won his first DP World Tour title at the 2023 European Open.
As McKibbin continued to impress, he earned the last available place on the 2025 PGA Tour through his performances on the DP World Tour, with many pundits tipping him to impress in his debut season.
However, having finally worked his way up to earn a spot playing alongside his mentor and idol, McKibbin instead made the surprise move to join the Saudi Arabia funded circuit breakaway LIV Tour in January.
Although it was no doubt a lucrative financial move for the 22-year-old, it has certainly impacted his relationship with McIlroy, who admitted that he would be disappointed in his countryman if he were to go against his advice and join LIV.
"Personally for me it would be a little disappointing if it were to happen," McIlroy said ahead of McKibbin's move
"But I made it perfectly clear: I am not going to stand your way if you need to make the decision you feel like you need to make for yourself.
"At the same time, I feel like he's giving up a lot to not really benefit that much."
Although it is not known exactly how much McKibbin was paid to make the move to LIV, it is estimated that he has earned close to $6million (£4.49m) n his first season in Saudi Arabia.
Regardless of the finances, McIlroy reiterated that he does not believe that he would have made the same decision if he was in the same spot in his early career.
He added: "I said to him, if I were in your shoes, I would make a different choice than the one you're thinking of making.
"If I were in his position and I had his potential, which I think I have been before, I wouldn't make that decision."
Despite clearly losing a bit of favour with McIlroy, McKibbin has since spoken out to sat that he doesn't regret the move, claiming his golf has improved alongside being "fortunate" enough to be a multi-millionaire at just 22 years old.
"I'm very glad, I've enjoyed it a lot. I've learnt a lot and I feel like my game has improved a lot," McKibbin told BBC Sport NI.
"I've no regrets. I love being there, and being able to come and play some events over here is really good as well."