US Open Golf 2011: Where Does Rory McIlroy's Performance Rank?

I never saw Bobby Jones play golf.  Never saw Ben Hogan, and didn’t see Jack Nicklaus in his prime. 

I did, however, see Tiger Woods win the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 strokes, which up until last week was the greatest performance I had ever seen in my life.

But after giving it some thought, I have come to the conclusion that what I saw from Rory McIlroy last week at the Congressional Country Club was the best golf I have ever seen in my life.

In 2000, Woods dominated with distance. Woods was literally hitting the ball 40, 50 and 60 yards longer than the rest of the field, and as a result, had seven irons into many of the par-fives while others were hitting 5-woods or laying up. 

Now, that’s in no way a knock on what Woods accomplished in 2000, distance was, is and always will be an advantage in golf. Most of the greatest golfers of all-time hit the ball significantly longer than their competition during their prime years.

McIlroy, although he hits the ball long, decimated Congressional Country Club last week with some of the best ball-striking seen in the 111 year history of the U.S. Open.

It seemed as if McIlroy was playing an older version of EA Sport’s Tiger Woods Golf where he could literally move the ball towards his target while the ball was still in the air.

Hitting fairways had become a given for McIlroy by the time Saturday rolled around, and his only real misses with approach shots were either long or short; everything seemed to be tracking directly towards the flag sticks.  

McIlroy broke the 36, 54 and 72 hole U.S. Open scoring records.

He needed only 26 holes to reach double digits under par.

And he finished with the lowest score in relation to par ever seen at a U.S. Open.

Folks, this is a 111-year-old event, and in one week, McIlroy shattered virtually every record that had been set in the previous 110 years.

You wanted to see some history and epic accomplishments last week?

Well, it doesn’t get much bigger than that.

It must be said that scoring conditions were easier last week at Congressional than what we normally seen at a U.S. Open.

On Saturday, 26 players posted sub-par rounds, and after 72-holes, 22 players were at even par or better for the tournament.

That being said, McIlroy won by eight strokes and distanced himself from the field by as much as ten strokes at various times during the week.    

Woods demolished courses with his prodigious length back in 2000.

McIlroy, on the other hand, put forth quite possibly the greatest display of ball-striking ever seen at a major championship.

Now, I’m not going to jump to conclusions and say that this one win means McIlroy is the next coming of Woods. It’s far too early to make that kind of prediction. There have been players who have won majors at a young age and never won again, and then there have been players like Nicklaus and Woods who won majors at a young age and went on to achieve great things in their careers.  

But whatever happens during the rest of McIlroy’s career, no one can ever take away what he accomplished last week at Congressional.

McIlroy’s name currently tops just about every U.S. Open scoring record there is, and that is unlikely to change any time soon, whether he becomes the next Tiger Woods or not.

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