BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) --- Dylan Reales started learning to play golf by swinging a broken broomstick at fruit and vegetables discarded at a temporary market in front of his house in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires.

Tomatoes, onions and even crushed cigarette packages were his first make-believe golf balls.

"I began hitting everything I came across on the street," he said.

He's only 11, but's he's progressed in giant steps in just a few years, establishing himself as a regular on the local junior golf circuit.

Dylan still lives in a shantytown known as Villa 31, where the game is unheard of and often confused with polo -- another sport largely restricted to the wealthy in Argentina.

He draws attention when he pushes his three-wheeled golf cart through the tough neighborhood, where it's not unusual to see young men being handcuffed and taken away by police. Then he heads to the subway and a round at Campo de Golf de La Ciudad, where he often plays.

"The very first thing I would like to do with any money I get through playing golf is to get my family out of the shantytown," he said. "More than anything else, that is what I want. It is my first goal."

This week he is playing a pro-am event with Angel Cabrera, Argentina's top player. Cabrera has won two of golf's most important tournaments, the Masters and the U.S. Open .

Dylan says his idol is Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, the world's top-ranked player and winner of the U.S. Open , British Open and twice the PGA Championship .

He said watching McIlroy play on television drew him to the game.

"I really liked it," Dylan said. "How they strike the ball, the landscape, the peace. Everything about it."