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    Tales of Rory McIlroy's prodigious length are already rumbling through the Rockies

    September 03, 2014

    Rory McIlroy hits the golf ball ridiculously far in normal conditions. But in the mile-high altitude of Denver? Not surprisingly, the 25-year-old Northern Irishman put on a display of power that turned heads before this week's BMW Championship even started.

    While warming up on Wednesday, McIlroy launched a drive that cleared a 90-foot high net at the far end of Cherry Hills' practice range. The tees were up about 30 yards on the 298-yard range, reported Golf Channel's Randall Mell. Tournament officials might want to move those tees back tomorrow when the third leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs begins.

    Vine user Jay Althouse, a photojournalist for KDVR/KWGN TV in Denver, posted this footage of McIlroy's reaction. Don't worry, Rory, no one was hurt.

    Erik Compton, who played with McIlroy, told Mell that Rory hit "a couple drives 400 yards." Set up as a par 70 and with thick rough, McIlroy noted he won't have many opportunities to hit driver. That's too bad, although witnessing a 370-yard 3-wood sounds equally as jaw dropping.

    McIlroy trails Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson in driving distance for the season with an average of 310.4 yards, but he's led the field in the category in four of his last five tournaments. Something tells us that number is only going to go up this week -- even if McIlroy keeps his driver in the bag.