CADDIE'S ROLE:The Walker Cup player is working his way quietly but meticulously to a professional career

THERE IS no standard plan of attack when it comes to deciding how to make the transition from top international amateur golfer to the unknown world of professional golf. Rory McIlroy was recognised from an early age as a rare talent and was carefully shepherded towards the European Tour. He received the maximum amount of invitations to play on the tour a couple of years ago and earned his playing rights for the following year with events to spare.

Shane Lowry was catapulted on to the European Tour with his spectacular victory in the Irish Open when he was still an amateur. His decision a week after his outrageous victory to turn professional was a no-brainer and his Irish amateur team-mate Niall Kearney agreed he would have done exactly the same.

I recently met the amiable young Dubliner after a short practice session at his home course and mine, Royal Dublin. I am not there that often but when I am, chances are I will see the tall, lean figure of the 21 year-old in the garden, the practice ground at Dollymount, and usually in the short game area.

It is the part of his game he thinks is his weakest. I had a game with him during the winter and was impressed by his short game. Having been a close observer of one of the finest exponents of the green-side detail of the game in Retief Goosen, I am not easily impressed. So I was fascinated at Royal Dublin's first Walker Cup representative's opinion of his chipping and pitching - he obviously has very high standards.

It has been a whirlwind month for Kearney; having represented Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup in Philadelphia a few weeks back he endured his first foray into the professional golf life on a successful recent trip to Germany to the first stage of the European Tour qualifying event.

Top amateur golfers are not unfamiliar with tough competition and the inconvenience of travelling to compete. Perhaps a sortie to the European Tour School might have got an ordinary amateur's golf juices flowing; it was probably something of a let down for a guy who had just played in front of 10,000 spectators, at the biggest event in team amateur golf in a country that knows how to make potential stars feel important.

The contrast of that with what must have felt like a field in a remote region of eastern Germany with a few rabbits and birds the only form of life apart from fellow competitors was stark.

Kearney was wearing one of his Walker Cup polo shirts when I met him and didn't need much prompting about his experience at the Merion Club. The Walker Cup started for the team members the previous week in London with a meeting with Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace. The team played golf in Sunningdale, where ex-Walker Cup player and now successful tour player Nick Dougherty came along to have a chat with the team.

The night before they headed off in comfort to the States they went to the BBC studios for a tour and attended Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. A night at the exclusive Dormy House at Pine Valley preceded the team's arrival at the Merion Club, where the red-carpet treatment continued.

In contrast, the first stage qualifier in Fliessen See outside Berlin involved a cramped seat with a budget airline and a 100km trip in a rental car to his underwhelming destination. It represented Kearney's first important lesson to life on tour: it is not always glamorous.

I get the feeling the mature Kearney is well aware of the reality of playing golf for a living. He explained he understood from a very young age that golf is a lonely sport where you spend the majority of your time on your own and therefore the life of a touring professional would not suit everyone.

He said he was content with his own company and did not crave companionship. He is happy to read and watch TV, selectively. I suggested he might be anxious to get back to watch the final showdown in the Fed-Ex Cup in Atlanta last Sunday night. By his response, I don't think he was too sure what event was on in the States last week. This is rare in young golfers, who are usually aware of the stars' every move.

Having got into the game by caddying for his dad at Corrstown when he was 12 and a 24- handicapper, he was down to scratch five years later. The extremely modest Kearney suggested to me he was not talented. His philosophy is: 'You can be what you want to be if you put your mind to it. The practice range is out in front of you, go and use it'

His highest accolade to date, to be chosen for the Walker Cup team, came from five years of hard work on top of - despite what he may think - a considerable amount of talent.

As a member of the Irish Boys, Youths and Seniors teams he is no stranger to high achievement. A key quality in the seemingly sensible beyond his years Brabazon Trophy holder seems to be his self -awareness. He tried the US college scene in East Tennessee and lasted about six weeks before deciding it was not the best way forward for him.

When I asked him what his weaknesses were he replied he wanted to be more decisive and committed on the course.

Decision making doesn't seem to be a problem if you can recognise as a teenager that golf in the US college environment does not suit you.

The remarkably balanced and courteous Niall Kearney would like to be making a good living on tour in five years' time but when it comes to his golf he has no limits. He is aware that already he has made sacrifices by losing touch with his mates through travelling in order to improve his game. But as long as he continues to achieve he is happy.

With his talent, modesty, work ethic, and judgment we can look forward to watching a young craftsman carve a long, fruitful career as a professional golfer.