Rory McIlroy’s Masters’ meltdown will now recede into merciful memory, annihilated by his exhilarating march to victory at the 2011 US Open.\u00a0 Only Tiger Woods\u2019 2000 win at Pebble Beach can be compared to the record-setting four rounds McIlroy played this week at Congressional.<\/p>\n
As I wrote on Friday and Saturday, McIlroy\u2019s composure after his Masters\u2019 disaster, his courage in facing up to the questions about his performance, his insistence that he would learn from the collapse, presaged this performance for the ages.\u00a0\u00a0 Not only did he shoot four rounds in the 60s on a long, strong golf course, matching Lee Trevino\u2019s 1968 performance at Oak Hill (with rounds of 69-68-69-69,Trevino was the first player in Open history to play all four regulation rounds in the 60s, tying the scoring record of 275), McIlroy\u2019s total of 268 broke the previous scoring record by 4 shots.\u00a0 That\u2019s Usain Bolt-level record setting, a quantum leap in a sport whose records creep forward in tiny increments.<\/p>\n
Rory\u2019s win was as dominating as Tiger\u2019s Pebble romp, but equally unexpected.\u00a0 Rory is 22, and his game has no weaknesses.\u00a0 His swing does not explode against his joints, but goes through a graceful arc with smooth precision.\u00a0 He\u2019s here to stay.\u00a0 In retrospect, the final round at Augusta will look like a fluke, the outlier in a career that is sure to accumulate more majors.<\/p>\n
The exuberance of the performance led to some hyperbole, as when Padraig Harrington suggested that Rory might win as many majors as Jack Nicklaus, a quest only Tiger has ever seemed fitted to pursue.\u00a0 When asked about Harrington\u2019s prediction in a press conference after the third round, Rory could only shake his head and tsk, \u201cPaddy, Paddy\u2026.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He has the Irish instinct for repartee and a genuine kindness to sharpen and sustain it.<\/p>\n
Golf was lucky to have someone as dynamic as Woods come on the scene almost twenty years ago, but cursed in equal measure when the game\u2019s greatest player disgraced himself and tarnished his sport with revelations of sexual escapades and an accompanying campaign of cover-up and deceit.\u00a0 \u00a0Now, with Rory, the game has once again summoned a champion for the ages, but one from whom a fall from grace seems unimaginable.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Rory\u2019s ascendency may give Tiger room to recover and re-emerge.\u00a0 The game is in good shape now, with Rory and Jason Day and the other rising stars, so Tiger can stay in his lair and lick his wounds and think about his return while the golf world\u2019s attention is focused elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy is the real deal. \u00a0Ireland is now the world\u2019s top producer of golf champions on a per capita basis: good on ya!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"