produced by champion Nick Faldo was his early favourite. McIlroy's father held down several jobs to earn additional income for his son's golf development. His mother worked extra shifts at the local 3M plant. McIlroy's first significant international victory came in the World Championship for the 9–10 age group bracket at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Florida. He learned his early golf at the Holywood Golf Club, which he still retains as his home course. He started his early training with Michael Bannon, previously the Golf Professional of Holywood Golf Club, who is also his current coach and dedicated mentor. Amateur career At the age of 15, McIlroy was a member of the Irish team at the 2004 European Boys' Team Championship and of Europe's winning 2004 Junior Ryder Cup team against United States on foreign soil in Ohio. In 2005, he became the youngest-ever winner of both the West of Ireland Championship and the Irish Close Championship. Mcllroy retained the West of Ireland Championship in 2006 and followed that up with back-to-back wins at the Irish Close Championship. In late 2004, at age 15, he signed a letter of intent to play collegiate golf at East Tennessee State University, but after his wins in 2005, he decided to forgo the golf scholarship and continue to play amateur golf in Europe. In July 2005, at age 16, McIlroy shot a new competitive course record score of 61 on the Dunluce links of Royal Portrush Golf Club. At 16 years old, he was part of the combined Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland team at the 2005 European Amateur Team Championship. However, team Ireland did not make it to the quarter-finals. Two years later, Ireland won the championship at Western Gailes Golf Club in Scotland, with McIlroy on the team again, this time with 20-year-old future Open champion Shane Lowry as one of his teammates and with McIlroy as tied individual leader in the initial stroke-play rounds. It was Ireland's first title in the championship since 1987. In August 2006, he won the European Amateur at Biella Golf Club, near Milan, Italy, with a score of 274. In October 2006, McIlroy represented Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy, which is the Amateur World Team Championship. On 6 February 2007, he became the second man to top the World Amateur Golf Ranking, though he lost the top spot after just