Rory McIlroy played alongside Noah Kent during a practice round at Augusta National ahead of The Masters two weeks ago.
McIlroy achieved golfing immortality with his win at The Masters, and it would have tasted extra sweet for him with his good friend Harry Diamond on the bag at Augusta National.
Numerous players on the PGA Tour have been saying that McIlroy could now become even more of a winning machine, due to the fact that his Masters win has completely freed him up.
Sir Nick Faldo even suggested that McIlroy is now the fifth greatest golfer of all-time after his Masters win.
Whilst that point is up for debate, there is no questioning the fact that the Northern Irishman has already achieved legendary status in the game.
The 35-year-old’s prodigious length off the tee enables him to completely overpower golf courses.
However, there is a young buck coming through the ranks who can send it even further with his driver than McIlroy can.
Noah Kent seemingly has all of the ingredients needed to go on and make it at the very highest level of the game.
One of his strongest assets though is his incredible power off the tee.
What Harry Diamond said about Noah Kent during Masters week
Claude Harmon is a well-renowned golf coach, with past and present students of his including the likes of Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Ernie Els and Adam Scott.
And now Kent has joined the Harmon stable.
The famous golf coach has been hugely impressed by the 20-year-old Florida State University student.
Kent clearly left an impression on McIlroy’s caddie as well.
Harmon was speaking on the Son of a Butch podcast, and shared what Diamond told him about Kent’s game:
“Given the distances that Noah hits it, he played a practice round with Rory McIlroy on the Tuesday. They played the back nine – Harry Diamond said he was really, really impressed. I think Noah outdrove Rory on every hole – he has tremendous distance, tremendous power.“
Kent clearly has the ability to make a real name for himself in the world of professional golf, and all eyes will be on him now regarding when he decides to turn pro.
Why Phil Mickelson was ‘not happy’ with Kent at The Masters
Mickelson played alongside Kent, DJ and Michael Kim during a practice round at Augusta National in the build-up to The Masters.
The six-time major champion played alongside Kim and took on Johnson and Kent.
And Harmon explained why the young amateur got Mickelson’s back up, so to speak:
“He and DJ played against Phil Mickelson and Michael Kim. I thought that was really huge for Noah. I can’t think of anybody other than maybe Tiger Woods who you would want to play a practice round with during tournament week than Phil Mickelson. The knowledge, the skill-set, the way he thinks about playing that golf course and playing that tournament. There is a reason why he has multiple green jackets. They played a match, it was all square going to the ninth hole. From the ninth fairway, Phil lipped it out, hit it to like two feet, and said to Noah, ‘well, you guys lose’. Noah hit it to like 15-20 feet and buried it on them, and walked it in too with a little first pump, which Phil was not happy about. So I thought that was really, really cool.”
Whilst Mickelson wouldn’t have genuinely been angry with Kent, the 20-year-old clearly would have made a big statement to the legendary left-hander.
The long-hitting youngster also left a mark on McIlroy and Diamond during Masters week.
The young amateur certainly has something special about him, and he’s undoubtedly one to keep a very close eye on.
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