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 The four-times major winner terminated his contract with Horizon
Sports Management in September 2013 to form his own company,
prompting a protracted dispute which forced McIlroy to take time
away from the golf course to prepare for the case.
Dressed in a navy blue suit and wearing black-rimmed glasses, the
25-year-old Northern Irishman arrived at Dublin's High Court on
Tuesday to a scrum of some 30 photographers and camera crews amid
intense international media interest.
His lawyer Paul Gallagher was granted the request to defer until
0900 ET(1400 GMT) in order to "narrow the issues at hand."
 After signing a number of lucrative sponsorship agreements,
including a deal with Nike in early 2013 worth a guaranteed $100
million over five years, McIlroy decided that his relationship with
Horizon was no longer in his best interests.
McIlroy, who will probably take the stand at some point, is suing
his former agents over the "unconscionable" contract he signed,
while Horizon are counter-suing him on the grounds that he owes them
millions of dollars in commission on contracts up to 2017.
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Irish bookmaker Paddy Power thinks it likely the case will be
settled, offering odds of 1/3 on the two sides reaching agreement
outside court and 9/4 on the trial being decided by a verdict.
(Reporting by Cathal McNaughton; Editing by Padraic Halpin and Ed
Osmond)
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