Galway lad plays 6 year-old McIlroy in Nike ad

A six-year-old Salthill boy has won the hearts of sports enthusiasts around the globe after appearing as a young Rory McIlroy in an emotional advert charting his idolisation of Tiger Woods throughout his career ahead of this week’s Masters.

The Nike ad – which has already attracted 3 million hits on YouTube – kicks off with John Holland glued to the telly as Tiger Woods wracks up the victories and then taking to a plastic set of golf clubs to emulate his hero.

He progresses to a real set using the washing machine drum as his target before graduating to his local golf club in Holywood for practice at every chance. The two-minute film climaxes with McIlroy playing alongside Woods as equals.

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Not only does young John physically resemble the golfing prodigy, he also boasts a similarly impressive swing.

In fact, pundits the world over are already touting the boy as one to watch on the golfing circuit, even though ironically he’s still three years too young to even qualify for membership at the Galway Golf Club where his family have had close ties for at least six decades.

It was the best golfer of the family – his grandmother, Patricia Lillis, who plays off a handicap of 12 – who first spotted his talent in December 2013. She took him to a driving range at Cregboy, outside Claregalway and was surprised to see how quickly he got the hang of the swing.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune