17 April 2012 Last updated at 07:52 ET

Holywood signs up Rory McIlroy

By Mark Simpson BBC Ireland Correspondent

Rory McIlroy has been honoured by his home town of Holywood, County Down

World number one golfer Rory McIlroy has been recognised in his home town of Holywood, County Down, with a special new sign.

The 'Home of Rory McIlroy' sign comes 10 months after he won the US Open and became one of the hottest properties in international sport.

The sign is close to his old school, Sullivan Upper, and just 100 yards from the house where he grew up.

North Down Borough Council put up the new sign.

The town is five miles from Belfast, on the shores of Belfast Lough.

The front garden of his semi-detached house was turned into a putting green, and a fence put around it in order to help the young Rory concentrate when he was practising.

There is no picture of McIlroy on the sign, and no reference to golf or the local golf course, Holywood, where he learned to play the game from the age of two.

In contrast, Portrush has put up a large, colourful sign celebrating the achievements of its two local major winners, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke.

The green and white sign includes a large golf ball and reads: "Welcome to Portrush: The major golf capital of the world".

It adds "Drive carefully, putt well".

The new Holywood sign has been criticised by some on the social networking site Twitter.

The comments included: "Poor effort compared to Portrush" and "I blinked, I missed it".

However, North Down Borough Council has said the McIlroy family especially asked that any signage be low-key. It seems modest McIlroy did not want anything too ostentatious.

At nearby Holywood Golf Club, the clubhouse has just been refurbished, with old photographs of McIlroy now on display as well as some of his memorabilia from recent tournament victories, and Ryder Cup success.

The world number one will be back in his native Northern Ireland in June for the Irish Open in Portrush.