Back in 2006 a fresh-faced, 16-year-old Rory McIlroy arrived at the Dubai Desert Classic as a relative unknown.
However many were tipping the youngster for stardom. And of course they were right.
The Northern Irishman is one of the most recognisable golfers on the planet, and he no doubt has the talent to go alongside it, donning one of the most impressive CV’s in the modern game.
Wherever the four-time major winner goes now - especially on the golf course - he is instantly recognised, however it wasn’t always like that.
When teenage Rory made the trip to the Middle East 16 years ago he had one very important thing to do as well as compete - see his (and everyone else’s) hero Tiger Woods.
As a competitor you’d think it would be fairly simple to get up close and personal with your fellow players, but of course Woods isn’t any old player.
Famed as the poster boy of golf, Tiger was in his scintillating prime in 2006 as he headed to Dubai with a remarkable 10 major titles in his trophy cabinet at just 30 years of age.
Like any other young golf fan, McIlroy dreamt of getting a front row seat to see the golfing great in action, and this is exactly what he did - but not through his powers as a player though.
Instead the Northern Irishman finished his opening round at the Dubai Desert Classic, and swapped his player role for one of the media.
McIlroy revealed back in 2012 that after his opener on Thursday at the 2006 event, he managed to get hold of a photographer’s camera and media accreditation which allowed him to get inside the ropes and follow Woods’ opening 18 that same afternoon.
About his remarkable first experience in 2006, he told ESPN : “I remember what I shot [in 2006] - I shot two 72s and missed the cut by one.
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"I remember I played on Thursday morning, and then on Thursday afternoon Tiger was playing.
“I came out in the afternoon and took one of the photographer's cameras off of him and was able to follow inside the ropes, which was pretty cool.
"That was my first real taste of Dubai, and I've been coming back every year since."
The 32-year-old also reminisced about his 2006 memories ahead of the 2022 event in his pre-tournament brief with the media.
Describing what it was like as a youngster to follow the sporting icon, he revealed Woods hit one of the ‘greatest golf shots’ he had ever seen - even to this day.
He said: “Tiger hit a five-iron out of the right rough on 10 and landed on the green and stopped it on the green.
“And to this day it was one of the best golf shots I've ever seen. Just sticks out in my mind and I was right there for it.”
Fast forward 16 years and McIlroy has gone from a sneaky teenager to a Desert Classic stalwart, winning the event twice - with his victory in 2009 his first ever DP World Tour title - and claiming an impressive six top-10 finishes.
This week gives him the chance to pick up a third Desert title, but as well as winning the Northern Irishman is also hoping he can inspire the younger golfing generation, just as Woods did to him all those years ago.
He continued “I loved getting up close and watching those guys play and trying to learn something from them and get inspiration.
If there's young kids running around this week, they can feel the same way or feel the same things as what I thought back then, then that's a pretty cool feeling."
McIlroy will kick off his week in the desert in Thursday’s opening round alongside Collin Morikawa and Bernd Wiesberger at 4am GMT.
