The Man from Omega

Let’s talk about ambassadors. You must be pleased with the timing of the Rory McIlroy signing?

Very happy! We signed him up at the beginning of last year. Difficult time: new manager, private life, clubs - it wasn't easy. I think the big turnaround was the BMW PGA Championship, which he won when he came from seven shots behind. Fantastic, I think that was unbelievable. Very rare that happens.

Then in these last three tournaments [The Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, PGA Championship] he's been in a different league to everybody.

Sergio has been unlucky, catching Rory in that form …

I agree. I was with Sergio earlier, he's here with us. He said: "I've played with Rory now, final group in last two tournaments, I've played both unbelievably well so I'm happy, and I tell you nobody on this planet could beat Rory those two days. Nobody! Not even Tiger at his peak could have beaten Rory those two days.” Sergio told me those words. So he's very happy with things. He's OK, but I agree with you: A British Open win for him would have been fantastic.

Finally, tell me about those holes-in-one …

Well, I've had two holes-in-one in my life. You know the worst thing? When no one is with you! My son was with me on one, I was alone for the other one, so nobody could see it. That's very frustrating. Actually, there is something worse. I remember a story about holes-in-one which I find is what golf is all about. As a golfer, you cannot cheat; if you cheat you defeat the purpose. It's a very humble game and I remember playing a tournament in Switzerland with three other people I didn’t know. It was cloudy and misty and we were on a par-3. We play and one guy, call him Bob, hits his tee shot to the right into the trees surrounding the green. So we all play into the mist and we go down there, looking for the balls. We are all on the green, so we go to help Bob and all of a sudden he says "Ah! I've found my ball". Bob plays it out, gets on the green, then the other guy he's playing with holes a putt, and when he goes to the hole, there are two balls in the hole! Bob’s first ball had gone into the woods, hit a tree and gone into the hole. A hole-in-one, but he’d cheated! This is an incredible story. For me, this is golf. It should have been his finest hour, but he was expelled from the club. He dropped the ball, "here's my ball here!". We couldn't see because it was foggy, misty. He'd made a hole in one ...What a game! [laughs].

We finished our meeting and headed off to join the Valhalla edition of the Omega media cocktails, where Stephen again effortlessly “worked the room”. I’m left hoping that we will see another Omega golf media cocktail event in Hong Kong soon, and Stephen Urquhart may be the man to make that happen. The motto of Clan Urquhart is “Mean well, speak well and do well” and it seems Stephen has taken that very much to heart. In the words of his paternal homeland, I’ll say on behalf of Hong Kong: “Haste Ye Back”