Magical McIlroy mesmerises in Maryland (and provides alliteration lovers with a wonderful headline)

 

Sheer brilliance. The man who shot 63 on day one of last year’s Open and who had a four shot lead going into the final round of this year’s Masters, finally showed his true potential last night and completed his rout, finishing on -16, a full eight shots clear of runner-up Jason Day. From his opening tee shot that sailed just over the pin on the tenth on day one, to his penultimate putt on the 72^nd that nearly drained for birdie, everything that McIlroy did last week was near flawless. He only had one 3 putt all week. He was long and accurate off the tee and it was fairways and greens all the way. Never mind semi rough, I had a semi watching him time and time again bomb another 300 yarder straight down the middle. He only dropped four shots on his way to a record breaking tournament total of 268. Tiger won his first major at 21 in Augusta in 1997 and with McIlroy only 22, the question of whether he can follow in Tiger’s golfing footsteps will inevitably be posed by many a journalist.  

                                                       I stress golfing because Tiger is now more famous to the wider public audience because of his ‘transgressions’. It would appear that McIlroy has the promise to become the new clean cut golfing sensation that sponsors dream of. He seems like a genuinely nice guy. Not just the kind of ‘nice guy’ that we hear about whenever someone kicks the bucket. “He was a quiet man who kept to himself and never harmed anyone”; loner. “He was from a nice family”; he was the black sheep. “He was a bit of a messer who just got in with the wrong crowd but deep down he was grand”; he was in and out of prison more often than a tennis ball and was an absolute drain on society. I digress. We saw what he went through in Augusta in April and anyone who plays the game can empathise with what he was feeling on the 12^th when he tried to bury his head into the peak of his cap after 3 putting from nowhere. He knew that the tournament was slipping away and he just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. To his immense credit he gathered himself and did a television interview afterwards in which he wasn’t feeling sorry for himself and stressed that he needed to learn from this experience. Clearly they weren’t just empty words and once he put himself in a position to win this week he never looked back.

                                                    So, can he emulate Tiger? Looking at the positives, age is on his side and if he can win another major this year or even next year then he will be already ahead of schedule with Tiger not winning his 2^nd major until the USPGA in 1999. He then went on to dominate the game until 2002, becoming the youngest golfer to ever win a career grand slam in this period. Since 2002, Woods has undergone several swing changes but has still managed to secure six majors in the process. In total, Woods has won 14 majors and counting, only four off Nicklaus’ 18. He is by no means finished and could well catch up or even surpass the Golden Bear. The record-breaking manner in which McIlroy won his first major may lead some to believe that he could be the man to take over from Woods and dominate but if he goes on to win half of Woods’ current total he should be delighted. Tiger was/is a physical and mental phenomenon that was willing to pull apart and put back together his entire game. Even when it appeared that things were going brilliantly, he was always tweaking something and constantly strived for perfection. McIlroy is naturally gifted and it appears that right now, he can do no wrong but by the very nature of sport, this won’t last and I just don’t believe that anyone can do what Tiger did and still win time after time. When things weren’t going great Tiger had a plan B, C, D etc. and could grind out wins i.e. 2008 Us Open playing on virtually one leg. I just don’t believe that any golfer, including McIlroy has the mental strength or single-mindedness of Tiger.

                                                          McIlroy is now as short as 5/1 to win the Open at Sandwich in Kent. Tiger is 14/1. Obviously there are question marks over Tiger’s fitness but I know who I would rather be on at those prices. As stated, McIlroy appears to be a nice guy and they say that nice guys finish last. Obviously that is an exaggeration but this blogger believes that the sleazy 14 time major man ‘bad guy’ will never be caught by this nice guy or any of his generation.