It was no fault of the World No. 1 Rory McIlroy but when he warmed-up for his ‘Deul at Jinha Lake’ he did so under a handful of NIKE banners.

Firstly, there was a large white balloon with the NIKE swish clearly hovering over both McIlroy and Woods.

There was also three to four static black-coloured displays on the ground just metres behind the Northern Irishman for the 18-hole event in the north China city of Zhenghou.

Of course, there has been plenty of speculation McIlroy is about to join Woods from 2013 at NIKE in a multi-million dollar signing-on deal.

And both he and his Horizon Sports management team have declined to either confirm or deny the rumour.

Could the site of this NIKE advertising confirm World No. 1 Rory McIlroy is about to switch to the ‘Swoosh’ from 2013. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)