Five-year-old golf star Arthur Saunders has flown to the US today to take part in the junior world championships.

The IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships, held in San Diego, has been running since 1968 and now attracts 1,200 competitors from more than 50 countries.

It is the biggest junior tournament in the world.

Golfers from Littlestone Golf Club, where Arthur is a member, helped to raise thousands of pounds to pay for his trip, and Virgin agreed to provide the family with free flights.

Arthur is passionate about the game, watching it regularly on TV and playing it every Sunday at Littlestone with his father.

At his school’s World Book Day in March he came dressed as the current world number one professional, Rory McIlroy.

Video: Arthur Saunders in action

He has a life-sized cut-out of the French pro Victor Dubuisson in his bedroom and he knows every distance from every tee box at the Championship Links course at Littlestone.

His favourite subject in school is maths so that he can work out his scores.

IMG, originally known as International Management Group, is an American-based global sports and media business and the IMG Academy is an athletics training complex in Florida.

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