June 19th, 2011 - The US Open was won with the lowest total score in history and by the youngest player since WWII. Breaking numerous previous US Open records, Rory McIlroy walked off the 18th hole to wish his dad (who worked three jobs to help support his son’s passion) Happy Father’s Day.

And yet just weeks before this huge unprecedented win, Rory McIlroy was in Haiti as the newest UNICEF Ireland Ambassador. While there, he visited newly built schools, hospitals and a few of the camps that serve as homes for the many displaced people.

Not one to stand and observe, Rory not only helped distribute cholera prevention supplies, he also played a sort of simon says game and taught the Haitian children how to wash their hands as a means of protecting themselves from the disease.

Just 22 years old, Rory’s visit to the island helped raise awareness and money that is so needed to continue with the rebuilding. The visit occurred right after his major loss at the Masters a few weeks prior.

“I have deliberately thought about Haiti out on the course,” he said. “When I’ve been faced with a particularly tough shot and got a little nervous, I have just said to myself, ‘Why are you getting so uptight about golf? That’s the perspective it has given me.”

Perhaps if more golfers will spend a little less time on the practice range and a little more time helping others, maybe they will sink a few more birdies like this remarkable young man from Northern Ireland.