Honda Classic 2012: It's Time for Rory McIlroy to Roar

Throughout the past five years, Rory McIlroy has done just about everything right.

He’s gone from a streaky young talent to a golfer you can expect to contend every time he tees it up.

He’s gone from a player who was unable to close out majors to a player who ran away with the 2011 U.S. Open title.

He’s gone from a baby fat-laden teenager to a physically sculpted 22-year-old man.

And now it’s time for McIlory to take the next step.

For the second consecutive week, McIlroy is a mere 18 holes away from claiming the top spot in the World Golf Rankings, and considering the way McIlroy’s game has progressed in recent years, he may be there for quite a long time.

McIlory currently holds a two-stroke lead over PGA Tour rookie Harris English and veteran journeyman Tom Gillis through 54 holes at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Garden, Florida.

If McIlroy were to win tomorrow, he’d become the second youngest player ever to take over the top spot the World Golf Rankings.

Whether it was Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer or Luke Donald, they all seemed more like placeholders atop the World Golf Rankings than mainstays.

Sure, they had to play some great golf to climb to the top of the rankings, but everyone knew they were only there until Tiger Woods regained his form or a young gun like McIlroy stepped up.

Discounting Woods—who once held the No. 1 ranking for 264 consecutive weeks—for the first time since Vijay Singh took over the top spot 2004, we may be looking at true world No. 1 in McIlroy.  

That being said, although McIlory has come a long way, he still has some work to do, most notably he needs to learn how to better close out golf tournaments.

People expect a true world No. 1 to win, particularly when they are leading a tournament heading into the final round.

People expect a world No. 1 to win when they are holding a 54-hole lead at a major championship.

People expect a world No. 1 to be licking their chops when all that stands between them and a World Golf Championship title is an 18-hole match against Hunter Mahan.  

When Singh took over the top spot from Woods back in 2004, he had won 13 tournaments in two years.

Singh didn’t back into the top spot or slowly climb the rankings with two years’ worth of top-10 finishes.

Nope, Singh went out and took it from Woods.

McIlroy, on the other hand, has won four official events since turning pro five years ago.

McIlroy has also finished within the top-four at nine out of his last 10 events, which you can look at one of two ways.

That he has become an incredibly consistent golfer to put himself into contention at nearly every tournament he has attended since last August.

Or, that he has been in contention on Sunday nine times in the past six months but has managed to walk away with just one title.  

Consistency is great, and is what every professional golfer strives to achieve, but again, people expect a true world No. 1 to win.

Guys like Westwood, Kaymer and Donald never seemed like true No. 1 players because they simply didn’t win very often, and in the case of Donald and Westwood, they didn’t even have a major championship victories on their resume.  

People don’t expect the game’s top dog to string together 15 top-10s, collect massive pay checks and head off to his private jets with a big smile on his face.  

People expect a true top dog to rule over the pack.

People expect a true top dog to impose his will on others.

Plain and simple, people expect a top dog to win, and if McIlory wants to be considered a true No. 1 and the game’s next dominant force, well it’s time for him to take that next step and begin turning all of those second and third place finishes into victories, and it all starts tomorrow at the Honda Classic.

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