Look out America - Irish teenage sensation Rory McIlroy is coming your way.
After his thrilling one-stroke victory in the Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy has climbed to 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking in less than 18 months as a professional.
At the end of August last year, he stood 172nd.
The boy wonder has achieved it without once stepping foot in the United States, but that is about to change.
McIlroy, just the sixth teenager to win a European Tour event and described as "a superstar in the making" by new Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie, will make his World Golf Championships debut at the Accenture Match Play in Arizona in three weeks' time. Then he travels to Florida and Texas, before heading to Georgia for the big one - his first Masters Tournament at Augusta on April 9-12.
Having thought a World Top-20 spot was a reasonable target to have for the end of the year, not the first week in February, McIlroy admitted: "I'll have to reassess my goals.
"I've moved up a step. Success only makes you more motivated to try to do better - I realise I've become a very good player and I've got a lot of years to progress still."
Manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler has no doubts that the sky is the limit.
"He's golf's new superstar and the most exciting talent the game has seen since Tiger Woods charged on to the scene more than a decade ago," said the former European Tour player.
"He showed maturity beyond his years to beat a world-class field and claim his maiden European Tour triumph. It will, I am absolutely convinced, be the first of many - Rory is that good.
"Not that anybody should be surprised. I've been telling people for a long time now that a very special talent was emerging.
"I'll be very surprised if he isn't inside the top ten before the season gathers many more divots.
"Rory will have learned far more from his one-shot win over Justin Rose than if he had gone ahead and totally eclipsed the field - as it looked like he would for so long.
"That up-and-down from the back trap on the last hole to seal victory was nothing less than magnificent.
"It would have been hard enough in normal circumstances - but given what was at stake and the size of his lead no more than an hour earlier (five shots), it was simply breath-taking.
"It's a very sunny outlook - despite what we are flying back into."
After spraying champagne Lewis Hamilton-style at a party given in his honour by his main Dubai-based sponsors. McIlroy flew home with his proud parents and did indeed discover that not everything will run smoothly from now on.
Their flight from the Middle East managed to land despite all the snow, but the connection to Belfast was cancelled - and they were eventually driven to Birmingham and flew from there.
McIlroy’s victory was his eighth top-ten finish in his last 13 starts. That included two play-off defeats, and he was mightily relieved he did not have to go into a third.
Runner-up Rose, of course, began his pro career with 21 successive missed cuts. It took him almost a year to earn his first cheque on the course. McIlroy, still three months away from his 20th birthday, is already heading towards his second million.
