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McIlroy: one to watch

I see Justin Rose as the one to be the Pied Piper and to be the leader of the pack in these Major championships.

Ewen Murray
Quotes of the week

Golf is gearing up for another thrilling year in 2008 and there are plenty of exciting young guns likely to be in contention for silverware.

Sky Sports pundit Ewen Murray is well informed on who to look out for this season and told Sky Sports News about three players who could be set for big things this year.

Justin Rose

I think what we need from Justin is a Major championship or at least him being up there challenging for them.

Over the last half a dozen years, we've lacked a Seve Ballesteros, a Nick Faldo, a Bernhard Langer, a Jose Maria Olazabal, a Sandy Lyle - all the Major winners we had in the space of 20 years.

I see Justin as the one to be the Pied Piper and to be the leader of the pack in these Major championships. He's now laid the foundations and I think 2008 is the time for Justin to build.

Rory McIlroy

If you ask any commentator across the world they will tell you McIlroy is the one - the next Seve or the next Faldo.

He's 18 years of age and there's going to be a lot of pressure on him over the next nine months. There will be a lot of talk of him making the Ryder Cup team - when he'll be just 19.

Is that too early? Maybe not, because Tiger Woods has raised the bar. He turned pro at 19 and was a Major champion at 20.

There's no longer a period of time when you cease to be a youthful golfer and you have seven or eight years to serve your apprenticeship. That doesn't happen any longer - and that's not just in golf, that's in every sport.

Martin Kaymer

Kaymer seems to have the game and has the right attitude. He's a player that seems to take on challenges that maybe other players wouldn't.

So he's going to have a few bad days as well as good days because that's the way he plays. As long as he continues to play that way - his natural way - he will do well.