Pint-sized, but in full swing for big future

Rory, from Muxton in Telford, finished runner-up in the 2009 Young Masters Championship at Hellidon Lakes, near Northampton, last week - a competition for players aged seven and under.

And that has earned him a place at the Calloway World Junior Championship qualifiers at Wychwood Park, Cheshire, next Saturday - where another victory would earn him a trip to the finals in San Diego in 2010.

"He'll be by far the youngest there so we don't expect him to win," said proud mum Alison McDonald.

"But if he plays like he did last weekend he'll have a chance because he was just unbelievable. He's too young to really know what it means to be playing in a qualifier so he doesn't get worried or feel pressured.

"He just loves playing - his hero is Tiger Woods and he tells me he's going to be Rory Woods when he grows up!"

Rory, a pupil at St Winefride's School in Belmont, Shrewsbury, is coached at Horsehay Village Golf Club by Matt Lea.

And his parents have been happy to support his competitive streak, also entering him in the British Junior Tour.

He will play his first event on that tour on Wednesday at Halesowen, with dad Andy O'Brien as his caddie. "He had a plastic golf set for his birthday when he was three and it all started from there," his mum revealed.

"We were having a barbeque when he picked up his club and hit the ball over our neighbour's fence. We could see then he was a natural. He loves going to coaching at Horsehay and he's in Matt's 'B' squad - the rest of the boys are under-11s."

Sporting talent certainly flows through Rory's family. Mother Alison is talent performance co-ordinator for the Shropshire Lawn Tennis Association while father Andy O'Brien was an England youth cricketer who also played for Northants and Kent.

Even little sister Isla, aged just three, is already showing potential. "She can hit a good tennis ball," said Alison.