“Come with me,” says the man, with a knowing nod. “I think I know what you’re looking for.” 

He’s spotted me wandering the perimeter of the clubhouse, conspicuous by my lack of golf bag and furtively clueless air. Locating stardust among a swath of neatly cut fairways and baize-like greens is harder than one might think.

The man leads me through a sidedoor, down a corridor and we come out in a light-flooded foyer. In the centre of the space stands a roof-high glass cabinet filled with trophies, signed tournament flags and personalised golf bags the size of wheelie bins. The curved wall is consumed by a photo montage of a curly-haired child prodigy turned world beater. This is the shrine to Rory McIlroy at Holywood Golf Club, in the little County Down town of the same name just outside Belfast. 

In April, the town – make that, the entire nation – got its Hollywood ending. In a fingertip-gnawing finale and at the 17th attempt, McIlroy finally won the Masters, completing the elusive grand slam of golfing majors and thrusting the boy raised just a few streets from the club into sporting immortality.

McIlroy grew up honing his putting on a makeshift astroturf green outside the modest suburban home I’d passed on the way here. When he made a flying visit from his Florida base a few weeks back it was in a £75mn private jet (“I know what it cost because I checked the serial number,” the airport car rental employee tells me, conspiratorially).

The airport may carry George Best’s name but “Rory”, as he’s mononymously known everywhere from Enniskillen to Coleraine, is every bit the equal of the late Manchester United icon in profile today. If there’s anyone in the population of 2m who’s not heard of him I’d wager they’re fibbing. 

Cheering loudest at McIlroy’s Augusta triumph would have been anyone with a stake in Northern Ireland’s stutteringly resurgent tourism industry. Because, with impeccable timing, the Open is being staged here later this month, at Royal Portrush Golf Club – meaning the man of the moment contesting the sport’s most revered tournament on home turf.

Interest has been unprecedented, particularly in the US, one of Northern Ireland’s biggest markets; a record near-300,000 spectators are expected for Open week and stirring footage of the County Antrim coastline will be beamed into an estimated 500 million homes worldwide. 

The downstream pay-offs cannot be underestimated; like a misdirected putt on a championship-cut green, they have the power to just keep on rolling.