McIlroy upstages Poulter in style stakes and on fairways

Published on Thursday 9 July 2009 22:51

DECLARING himself an honorary Scot for the week, Rory McIlroy pulled off a fashion coup and put Ian Poulter firmly in the shade by wearing a pair of McGillvray tartan trews at the Barclays Scottish Open.

In a one-upmanship contest, the young Irishman also out-drove the Englishman by 50 yards on the third hole and bettered his score of 69 by a stroke. The world No20, who hopes to go even lower in today's second round, will ring the changes in the sartorial department by wearing white tartan from the MacDonald clan, a tribute to his mother, Rosie, whose maiden name is MacDonald.

McIlroy, 20, who brings a welcome sense of irreverence to the course, wondered if serendipity had intervened after the decision was taken to step out in tartan on the bonnie banks. "The trousers arrived on Tuesday before the draw was made and I said: 'I hope I'm not drawn with Poulter'," he quipped.

"We were both on Twitter (the social networking site] last night giving each other a bit of stick about it. He sent a picture of him ironing his trousers.

"Hopefully I outdid him in the trousers (department] and outscored him by one so it's not too bad. I'm going to be in tartan all week. It was a fun thing we ran through my website, just to see what the fans thought I should wear and because it is the Scottish Open, there's nothing better to wear than a bit of tartan.

"If I play well in them, there's no reason why I shouldn't be wearing them next week at the Open as well. I think I've made myself an honorary Scot for the week.

"Ian and myself are on Twitter and he sent a comment saying, 'great group for the first two rounds, I hope Rory doesn't hit it 30 yards by me'. I hit it about 50 or 60 by him on the third and told him: this would make a great picture for Twitter."

The highlight of McIlroy's 68 came when he eagled the par-5 13th. "It was pretty steady from there," he added. "I had only one bogey, nothing dramatic or spectacular, but just pretty solid. The best preparation for next week is doing well this week, feeling the pressure of coming down the stretch. It will be perfect for the Open."