After Rory Mcilroy destroyed the field at Congressional yesterday everyone in the golfing world is asking the same question: Is Rory the new Tiger?
The manner in which the young Northern Irishman dismantled the field on Sunday has earned him admiration worldwide in the eyes of golfing fans.In comparison the formerly omnipotent world number one has languished into the background, missing this years US Open with a recurring knee injury.It is now 3 years since the mighty Woods added his 14th major title to his bulging trophy cabinet and many qualified onlookers have suggested that he may struggle to add another.
Personally I still think Rory has a long way to go before he can even be mentioned in the same breathe as Tiger Woods in terms of golfing greatness. We must remember that Tiger is second only in the all-time major winners rankings to Jack Nicklaus. Rory was very impressive on Sunday but he will have to repeat such impressive performances another 4 or 5 times before we can talk about him surpassing Tiger as the dominating force in golf worldwide. Is Rory talented enough to surpass Tiger? Without question. But does he have the mental fortitude to repeatedly bear the pressure of competing at the business end of major tournaments. It was only in April this year that we saw Rory struggle to cope with the weight of expectancy when his title campaign crumbled after an errant tee shot on the 10th tee at Augusta. We know that Tiger has demonstrated time and time again that he has the ruthless focus to close out major tournaments consistently. I would expect that Tiger is on the practice ground at this very minute fine tuning his swing and adjusting his swing to compensate for the problems he is having with his knee. Tiger still has Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 Majors in sight and I still believe he has what it takes to come back and reclaim his place at the summit of world golf. Rory Mcilroy is likely to lead a pack of young talents taking the fight to Tiger. Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Jason Day, Matteo Manaserro the list goes on but do not be surprised if Tiger quickly finds the groove and shows those that have written him off that he is far from finished writing his entry in the record books.
In answer to the initial question I would say: Is Rory Mcilroy the new Tiger? Yes. But for how long? With so many young competitors around and with the experienced Els , Mickelson and Westwood far from finished with their pursuit for glory, can we award the top mantle to Rory so readily? Maybe for a few weeks but who knows? Maybe The Open in July will unveil another pretender to Tigers' crown?!
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