Pond Scrum: Early thoughts on McIlroy’s current, future greatness
Really, whats left to say about the record-searing performance of 22-year-old Rory McIlroy, the youngest player in 88 years to carry home the U.S. Open trophy?
Volumes, actually. At high-decibel levels.
The last guy to win the National Open at a younger age was Bobby Jones, and that was so long ago as to be Jones was winning when they used wooden-shafted sticks as clubs, like cavemen. It was the Pleistocene Epoch in terms of the modern game.
McIlroy, 22, broke the U.S. Open tournament record by four shots. (Getty Images)
Small wonder that the weekend felt like the dawn of a new era, and not just because theres a New Kid in Town. All four major winners are first-timers under the age of 30, marking a fast infusion of fresh faces at the top that the game hasnt experienced in decades.
Yet as it relates to talent, personality and potential upside, McIlroy stands at the back of the new Grand Slam line only in age.
A few years back, Tiger Woods showed up in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration ceremony for incoming president Barack Obama. This week, even without Woods, it surely felt like another front man was being sworn into place.
This was a Beltway belting, except that it was the kid who was paddling his elders. McIlroy set or matched a dozen records in a tournament that has been staged 111 times over parts of three centuries. Many of Woods marks, thought to be mostly untouchable, were obliterated.
McIlroy has long been marked as the most talented of the next generation. Now that hes finally gotten over the wall, regained whatever semblance of confidence he lost two months ago when he blew the final-round lead at Augusta National, its frightening to project where he might go from here.
At least, its scary for the other players.
For European Tour correspondent John Huggan and CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling, who are both trying to come to grips with what they witnessed last week at Congressional Country, it feels like the stuff of fiction.
Here comes the bandwagon, fellas. Where does Rorys performance rate among the greatest in U.S. Open history? Is it the greatest ever, because some of the numbers suggest as much. What say you boys?
Elling: Oh, it was stupendous, and the 12 records he broke or matched are the stuff we might not see again in our lifetimes. The trouble is, he made it look so easy and the course was there for the pillaging. Winning by eight shots proves he was on another plane, but I am not sure this belongs up at the top of the list with Opens like Tiger Woods winning by 15 shots in 2000, or Tiger winning on a broken leg in 2008, Ben Hogan winning after his near-fatal car crash or Jack Nicklaus beating rival Palmer at Oakmont in a playoff for his first career win of any kind. Maybe time will change my mind.
Huggan: I think its time to put the brakes on some of the hyperbole that has already been flying around this U.S. Open. It was surely a wonderful performance by an incredibly talented and likeable young man, but top five of all-time or top three? Im not so sure about that, given the reservations I have about the course and the un-Open-like challenge it presented.
Elling: It might take me a few more hours to digest his accomplishment, actually. To slash the scoring records for both total raw score and relative to par by four each is incredible. I am still a bit numbed was too soft for Congressional to play like the U.S. Golf Association wanted it. Plus, par means nothing. It is only a number on a card. If you think about it, comparing U.S. Opens played on different courses at different times, with different equipment and in different weather, is a ridiculous thing to do. Way too many variables.
Elling: Snap judgments, like Rorys occasional snap hook, are a dangerous proposition. Lets allow this one to breathe a bit. But it was transcendent, for sure. Really, he never wavered. Three bogeys and a double for the week? Guys had that much carnage and more on the card each day.
Interesting thought about par, John. Last time the Open was contested at Congressional, par was 70. So thats four extra strokes of red numbers right there. Again, nobody is diminishing the feat, just aiming for some proper context among the hyperventilating.
Huggan: Rorys play, on the other hand, deserves any plaudit going. For a 22-year old to compete with such assurance, poise and skill was something to relish. And best of all, golf has a superstar who can play at a transcendent level and be a nice guy at the same time.
Elling: Incredible the way the U.S. crowds adopted him too. There was a charming line from Rory last night when asked if he might play more often in the States and he said, “I might have to.”
Elling: This was a brilliant, superlative week, almost perfect. He hit 62 of 72 greens, a record since the USGA began tracking the stat a few years ago. Yet he had one three-putt green.
Huggan: Yes, that was a heartening reception and an example I hope we will see reciprocated next month at the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges. Ive had quite enough of this “us and them” stuff when talking about European and American golfers. Were all in this together.
Elling: Here, here. Or maybe, there, there? Hey, thats not bad. I might use that in a story someday.
Huggan: The three-putt came right at the end, when his concentration was presumably wavering. So it doesnt count. … I must admit my mind wandered to wee Tim Finchem yesterday. The two guys who last month skipped his prize event, the Players Championship, finished first and third. Lets hope for Timmys sake more dont follow that example next year.
Elling: Finchem was camped on the first tee yesterday. I was tempted to ask him, “Tim, where are all the PGA Tour players this week?” McIlroy isnt a member, same as Lee.
Completely ignoring what Huggan just said about solidarity, the low Americans on the board were second-year pro Kevin Chappell and veteran Robert Garrigus, who both finished T3. Time to wring our hands about the state of the American game, eh?
Elling: Seems like its been hours since we discussed this topic, right, John? Lamenting the state of the Americans in the game could be a weekly exercise. For good reason. When Steve Stricker won at Memorial two weeks ago, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek column on how the Americans were back on top. Because we all know otherwise.
Huggan: I saw some great quotes from Pete Cowen last week, one of the games top swing coaches. He knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a golfer. And he was very down on the U.S. college system. The gist of his take is that players go there and stop improving because the colleges only want scores on boards, they dont want guys to get worse for a year in order to get better.
Elling: Cowen, an Englishman, might be onto something there. Colleges cannot afford for a top scholarship player to tear up his swing and endure a transition period. They dont have the luxury of depth on the teams.
Huggan: I must admit, I had barely heard of Chappell. Garrigus I remembered for that sweaty butt of his at Memphis last year. Sorry, Robert.
Elling: Man, it sure seems like Mickelson, Furyk and Tiger aged overnight, huh? Meanwhile, Aussie Jason Day has made his first three career starts at the PGA, Masters and U.S. Open and finished T10, T2 and second. The Americans right now have quality players in large numbers, but few breakaway stars. Day is 23 and has as much charisma as McIlroy and at least as much innate confidence. Speaking for all of the USA, I would like to add, “gulp.”
Huggan: In passing, I must also say that I am concerned for the future of Mickelson at the very top of the game. He looks to me like a guy who has just gone over the hill. I hope Im wrong because he is so much fun to watch, but the portents are not good.
Elling: Phil Mickelson: The last Yank to have won a major, five events ago. Sunday marked the first time that internationals have claimed five straight major titles since the modern Grand Slam was coined. Facts are facts, people.
Huggan: Im not sure Jason Day has a 10th of Rorys popularity. He certainly isnt beloved at home in Australia. He has routinely skipped the major events down there the last few years. Have you just woken up?
Elling: Yes, Day has as much charisma, the same glint in his eye, just not as much game as Rory at the moment. The kid is also a heckuva story. Not the traditional, pampered country club life. Easy to root for.
Huggan: Hmmm … Im not so sure about that one. Plus, look at his stats last week. He missed an awful lot of fairways. Had the greens not been so soft, we wouldnt be having this conversation.
Elling: Oh, now you are throwing stats at me? You are usually the last guy to rely on numbers. Day has finished second in back-to-back majors, despite being an event first-timer. He was 10th at the PGA Championship. Thats getting it done regardless of what the Shotlink numbers say.
Elling: Nationalism aside, it would be great for the game if this pair developed a natural rivalry. They have known each other since they were in their mid-teens, are both popular in the States, and both speak English. Unlike some of you Scotsmen. Nobody can understand what you are talking about half the time.
Are the Tiger comparisons fair? It didnt take long for some, like three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, to suggest that Nicklaus major records could be threatened. Why the rush to judgment?
Elling: Its completely fair to compare Rory against Tiger as it relates to their one-off tournament performances at majors. The week was very analogous to Tigers victory in the 2000 Open at Pebble Beach, when he obliterated the record book. But predicting he could be the guy to erase the Nicklaus mark is reckless and doesnt help the kid one iota. As Rory himself said, its only his first.
Huggan: Yes, it remains to be seen just how historically significant this victory is. I see Rory as someone good enough to win six to eight majors, which puts him the Nick Faldo/Tom Watson category. Pretty damn good but not the best of all-time.
Elling: It was interesting listening to Rorys choice of words afterward last night. Three times he referred to the title as my “first major.” It struck me as being less than accidental. Clearly, the implication is that there are more to come in his mind.
Huggan: What I hope is that Rory continues to play the way he did last week. If he does, he will win four or five times a year with minimal effort. In the weeks where he putts well, he will be untouchable. And if at least one of those weeks coincides with a major, hell win there, too.
Elling: It was as though he had finally cleared a mental threshold last night and now the jailbreak has begun. Jailbreak, a veiled Thin Lizzy reference. Weve got the Irish thing going today, people.
Huggan: Youre showing your age, now.
Elling: Heres what North Irelands David Feherty told me yesterday: “Is he playing similar golf [to Woods]? Yes, absolutely. The quality of the shots he is hitting, and make no mistake, the scoring but only for one person. They are talking its too easy, its too wide, too soft, the greens arent fast enough, too this or that. But its only one guy who is running away.”
Huggan: That is a good point. Take Rory out of the equation and there was a helluva tournament going on, one with a winning score of 8 under par. Which was probably what the USGA had in mind.
Elling: No responsible party with two spare brain cells to rub together should be insinuating that Rory will be the next Tiger Woods. There will not be another Tiger. Period. Seriously, Rory has already lost nearly as many 54-hole leads as Tiger did over 15 years. To paraphrase Roger Maltbie, comparing these two at this point, “Its not a fair fight.” But their performances at these two Open contests? Heck, yes, its fair to compare.
Huggan: Also, it is the mark of a good course well set up that, if a great player is playing at the top of his game, it gives up low scores. My mind always goes back to Woods at Oakmont four years ago. We had the second-best player of all time playing great and he could only shoot 69. When that happens, there is something wrong with the course.
Im sure we will see comparisons between Rory and Tiger over the coming days, weeks and months. For now at least, they will all be stupid and pointless.
As evidenced by Fehertys well-reasoned aside, conditions were a hot-button issue all week. Was the course where it should have been regarding preparation and will the U.S. Open return to Congressional? Should it?
Elling: I had no problem with the setup whatsoever. The only option was for the USGA to suck all the moisture out of th and turning stressed greens into pizza crusts. Let em play and post whatever numbers come. It was entertaining.
Huggan: I dont think either of us will see another major at Congressional. For one thing, were both getting on a bit. And for another, the softness of the greens was also the courses death knell.
Elling: What could they do? The sub-air pumps were cranking along every time I was out there. I stood over one of the exhaust vents and felt like Marilyn Monroe when it blew air up my skirt. She has better legs.
Huggan: Plus, is Congressional really that good? I didnt think so. Too many holes with bunkers on the outside of doglegs and too many trees Id take a chainsaw to.
Elling: They cant get rid of the trees. Too many permitting issues. Cut down a tree, you have to replace it with two. Seriously. County intervention run amok.
Huggan: If that [Congressional] is the best Rees Jones can come up with, Im glad he is no longer “the Open Doctor.”
Elling: From a staging context, I thought Congressional was fine. Its a middle-tier Open site. You can nitpick at them all, really. Torrey Pines is a bland golf course with awesome scenic vistas that looks great on the blimp shots, but has few interesting holes. Yet it produced the greatest thriller in Open history in 2008. Sometimes its not about the stage itself, its about the actors. I mean, everybody seems thrilled about returning to Shinnecock in a few years? It was the site of the biggest U.S. Open cock-up in history, and the course is located in the middle of nowhere. If Congressional wants the Open to return, I am all for it. Word is, some members dont want the Tiger Woods AT&T event to be staged there anymore. That will be interesting to track.
Huggan: Shinnecock is the best course in the United States. You heard it here first. Lets hope they manage to set it up so that world-class players are not putting into bunkers, though.
Elling: Every time I think of Shinnecock, I think of guys making a million on the seventh hole because the USGA let the green die a coughing, wheezy death. Then, after guys like Kevin Stadler had already played the hole, they watered it and changed the hole characteristics completely for players coming along later in the round. I will forever equate it with disaster. Sorry. That image aint gonna change. For me, at least.
Huggan: Yes, they completely screwed up the competition. To be completely fair, play should have been abandoned for the day. For all their talk of integrity and such like, the USGA never came close to making that call. Too expensive.
This calls more for a prediction than any actual insight, though a little of both would be nice. Can Rory putt well enough over the long haul to be one of the truly transcendent players?
Huggan: Id like to think so. But I get the feeling other players dont.
Elling: To me, that was the most positive part of the week. McIlroy played like he did when he swiped the 2010 tournament at Quail Hollow with a closing 62, except that he did it for four days. He had one three-putt, the result of a mental lapse on the 71st hole. Hes had two consults since the Masters disaster with putting guru Dave Stockton and tweaked his technique. So far, so great.
Huggan: While its safe to assume he wont putt like that every week, he doesnt have to. If he can manage something similar five or six times a year, he will win going away. And if he does it in the right weeks, well, Tiger and Jacks major totals may be in danger. Eventually.
Elling: Stockton is going to be getting more business than ever after this performance by his newest client. McIlroy has been a spotty putter over his brief career, and on some of the quickest greens of the year.
Huggan: The great thing is that this kid is a star, a nice person and just what golf needs after the public and personal humiliation of you-know-who. It can only be a matter of time before he is No. 1.
Elling: Hes surely the anti-Tiger in terms of personality and the way he interacts with people. Think about this, John. Hes held at least a share of the Sunday lead in each of the last three majors contested. Hes led seven of the eight major-championship rounds played in 2011. Stout as a pint of Guinness.
Huggan: That is impressive. Like I said, the rest should be worried. I bet there were a few “oh, sh*ts” uttered last week by some of the higher-ranked and more ambitious players.
Elling: Not to mention some of the older players who have carried the game for a decade, like Phil, Padraig, Furyk, Els, Woods. I wonder what Tiger was thinking, watching at home, squeezing electrical sparks out of his remote control.
Huggan: Lee Westwood, for one, would be less than human if the thought had not occurred to him that his time may have passed.
Elling: Four years ago, there were zero players still in their 20s who had won a major. Tiger and Phil and Padraig had collected them all. Were in full-blown transition. All the major winners are under age 30 at the minute.
Huggan: And none of them are American. Sorry, there I go again.
Elling: You beat me to the keyboard on that one. Had it half-typed.
Huggan: Yeah, yeah coming up a bit short to the @%#$! foreign guy.
Huggan: As for Rorys improved putting, he is definitely standing more upright over the putts. I hear his grip has changed, t to clear his mind of technique, I bet.
Elling: To speed up the process, actually. Stockton said he was taking too long to pull the trigger. Like Rory doesnt play fast enough already. That might be the single-most endearing part of the kids game as far as making an impact or changing the way the game is played. He plays like his hair is on fire, like hes in a hurry to get somewhere. Like world No. 1.
