PGA Championship Leaderboard 2011: Is Rory McIlroy Tougher Than Tiger Woods?

Rory McIlroy, today, at this very moment, is tougher than Tiger Woods without a shadow of a doubt. Hands down, no questions asked.

End of story? No. Let me just start by restating that I am referring to the present time, and in no way am I referring to where each one will end up in golf's history book.

Tiger Woods, after today's monumental collapse, has hit a career low. I am in awe and disbelief. Now I am beginning to wonder if Tiger will ever be back to his old self.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy went up and down, literally, on the board. He was even for the day and did not look bad.

He was just getting around the course, like a boxer does in a first round. Getting to know his opponent, studying him. That was Rory today.

Tiger shot a 77, his worst opening round ever at the PGA Championship. Actually, this is his worst ever opening round in a major.

If the cut was today, Tiger would have been at the airport already. He is at seven-over, and the leader—Steve Stricker—is threatening the course record with a seven-under round.

In order for Tiger to even make the cut, he might have to play the best round of his life. Very difficult to envision, when one considers that he was at three-under after five holes with a share for the lead.

He went 10-over for the remaining 13 holes. When he made a double bogey on the sixth hole, his game came crumbling down. From those holes, eight were over par, including three double bogeys.

That would have never happened to Woods in the past. Contrast that to McIlroy, who shot four bogeys and two birdies and never looked fazed by his mistakes today, even though he injured his wrist on the third hole.

Mental toughness is something that the great ones master, and Tiger had it for a long time. It is the ability to maintain the focus and determination necessary to complete a course of action despite difficulty or consequences—simply put, to never quit, period.

Tiger simply could not overcome his adversity after his first big mistake.

McIlroy is not to the point yet where he can will himself out of harm's way in a competition, but today he showed a lot of guts playing with a bad wrist.

We have seen Rory run away with wins, but not closing from way behind to win. Tiger used to be able to do it.

But McIlroy is developing that ability. Maybe it's his demeanor that has not allowed him to fully develop it or the fact that he is just 22 years old. If he keeps playing injured and wins, he will definitely have it by then.

Last year at the PGA, Rory finished T3. Since then he has played in 25 tournaments, missing the cut only once. He also has 14 top-10 finishes, with seven of them in the top five, including his record-breaking U.S. Open win.

As for Tiger, he has been on and off the course with injuries and not even close to Rory's numbers.

Not only in the mental department, but on the field, Rory McIlroy has been better and tougher than Tiger Woods.

So going back to the answer of who is tougher, it definitely has to be McIlroy. At least at this moment and for the foreseeable future.

- Carlos Torres