US Open: What the Results Say About Tiger Woods and Other Stars Moving Forward

Tiger Woods did not win the US Open, Webb Simpson did. But both are headed for great things moving forward.

Simpson won his first major title at Olympic on Sunday with a brilliant weekend performance. He shot back-to-back 68s on Saturday and Sunday to snag the title at 1-over par.

Woods, on the other hand, blew up over the weekend. He shot a 75 on Saturday and couldn't make anything happen on Sunday, shooting a 73.

However, both players are still in good shape heading into the rest of 2012 and beyond.

So, here's a look at Woods, Simpson and other top pros and what their performance at the US Open says about their games for the rest of this season and their careers.

Rory McIlroy

In the 2011 iteration of the US Open, Rory McIlroy paced the field, shooting an Open record 16-under par en route to victory.

This year at the US Open, McIlroy shot 10-over par through two rounds and missed the cut.

That's a 26-stroke difference from one year to the next for the player who was supposed to be the next great thing in golf.

He still has the same sweet rhythmic swing that he did in 2011, but at 23 years young, he is still immature and has a lot of room for growth.

His biggest weakness is his inability to avoid the big numbers.

He has a tendency to get a little quick in his swing at times, which forces him to over hook the ball left, often leaving him in a bad spot. He seems to do this off the tee once or twice a tournament and doesn't recover well, often putting up a double-bogey or worse on the hole.

This is the type of shot and lack of mental toughness that cost him at Olympic on Thursday when he shot a 7-over par 77, essentially taking him out of the tournament before it seemed to really get going.

McIlroy is one of the most talented players in the game. But his poor showing as defending champion at the US Open shows he has a long way to go before he reaches the atmospheric level that many were projecting for him after his victory last year. 

Phil Mickelson

When Phil Mickelson entered the US Open, he was looking for a victory at the championship that has eluded him his whole career.

Instead, he finished at 16-over par in a tie for 65th place. Certainly not the result Lefty was looking for when he arrived in San Francisco to begin the week. 

He struggled over all four days, and couldn't seem to find a green or a fairway on the majority of his swings.

Perhaps his first stroke of the tournament sums up his week the best.

On the No. 9 tee, his starting hole on Thursday, Mickelson pulled out his driver and made his famous swing when he seems to take the club just slightly too far back and then powers through the downswing with an aggressiveness that few players display.

However, this time around things did not go Lefty's way, and his tee ball ended up in one of the towering cypress trees that lines the fairways at Olympic and didn't come down.

From there, Mickelson never seemed to recover. He couldn't hit a single club in his bag the way he wanted to and, in the end, it just wasn't his week.

Mickelson is still sitting on four majors and he isn't getting any younger at 42 years of age. But he will have to wait at least another season before he can capture his country's championship.

Luke Donald

Luke Donald is the No. 1-ranked player in world, but has one thing missing from his resume—a major championship.

He didn't help his case any at the US Open this past weekend by missing the cut. He shot a disastrous 79 on Thursday and couldn't rebound on Friday, shooting a 2-over-par 72.

Once again raising the question: how can you be the top-ranked player in the world and not have won a major? But perhaps the more important question is: will he ever win a major?

Looking purely at his talent level and play style, the answer should be a resounding yes.

On the surface, his game sets up perfectly for competing in majors. He hits his irons beautifully, is straight off the tee and has one of the best short games on tour.

But none of that has transferred over when it comes to the biggest tournaments.

The highest he has ever finished at a major was a quiet third place at the Masters in 2005. However, the more telling statistic is how many times he hasn't even been close.

Since 2005, when he earned full exemptions to play in all four majors, he has only finished within the top 25 eight times out of 24 chances. But more importantly, he has missed the cut eight times in that stretch.

Every other tournament of the year, Donald is one of the most consistent players on the planet. But when it comes to the four that define a player’s legacy, he just comes up short.

Donald is only 34 years old, so he still has time to win the big one. But if past performances are any indication, he might be sitting atop the "best player never to win a major" list for quite a while.

Lee Westwood

Like his fellow Englishman, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood is one of the best players in the world yet to find ultimate success at a major.

Unlike Donald, though, Westwood has come close many times, finishing in the top ten in a major on 13 occasions.

He added to that total at Olympic this week, battling his way back from a terrible opening round to finish in a tie for 10th place.

A top ten at the US Open would be good for a normal tour pro, but for a player like Westwood, who has been the No. 1-ranked player in the world and has won a combined 24 tournaments between the PGA and European tours, the result isn't enough.

The greats of the game are measured by majors, and at 39 years of age, Westwood is still major-less.

He has the game to win one of these tournaments eventually, but until he does, he will always have to deal with the "yes, you're good, but you haven't won the big one label."

Tiger Woods

T21.

That is where Tiger Woods finished the US Open. He headed into the weekend with a share of the lead, but a third-round 75 and a final-round 73 sealed his fate.

In the first two rounds, Woods was striking the ball with a precision that we have not seen from his game since his glory days in the early 2000s.

But on Saturday, that all seemed to go by the wayside.

He struggled to hit fairways, failed get the ball close with his irons and, most importantly, couldn't adjust to the speed of the greens.

The slow start continued on Sunday. He went six-over par over the first six holes, which eliminated any chance at a comeback before his round really got under way.

However, Woods did show some real signs of progress over the week.

He had a game plan and did a great job of executing it. He struck the ball well and had a natural rhythm to his swing that hasn't been seen in from him for a long time.

He also showed the ability to grind and work through the very difficult test that is the US Open, at least in the first two rounds.

However, as evidenced by his weekend collapse, Tiger is still not back yet.

The Woods of old would have never given up a lead the way he did at Olympic. He would have finished out the tournament and found a way to fight his way through the course with his uncanny ability to grind and the bit of magic he always seemed to have in the bottom of his bag.

At this point in his career, the only thing that matters to Woods is majors. He needs four more to catch Jack Nicklaus' record of 18, and five more to pass the Golden Bear.

At 36 years old, Woods still has enough time to do so, but he will never get to that point until he finds a way to put together four straight rounds of spectacular golf. In his younger days, he almost always seemed capable of doing so, and I wouldn't bet against him to do so again.

He isn't far away from the Tiger we all remember, but the final step is always the biggest. He has the game to win majors and the drive to keep going for years.

Now, all that might be missing is a little bit of his old magic.

Maybe he should check the pockets of his bag.

Webb Simpson

For the rest of his career, Webb Simpson will be introduced as "Webb Simpson, 2012 US Open Champion."

That's how impactful winning a major is in golf. Not only is it a huge victory that gives you a five-year exemption on tour and a seven-figure paycheck, it changes the way you are perceived.

This is Simpson's third PGA tour victory, and at 26 years old, he still has a long time on tour to make his mark. But no matter how many wins he has from this point, the most important will always the trophy he raised at Olympic.

But, he does have the game to come away with many more victories in the near future.  

He isn't the longest hitter, but he hits the ball straight and almost always seems to find the fairway. He is a great ball striker with his irons and is 15th on the tour this season in greens in regulation.

He is also an outstanding putter, which always seems to have him in the hunt no matter how badly he is striking the ball.

At the moment, Simpson is the 14th-ranked player in the world and moving forward he has the potential and makeup to only move up from there.

Simpson's breakout season came in 2011, when he won two events during the Fed Ex Cup playoffs.

He hasn't looked back since.

Simpson has been a cut-making machine in 2012 and has quietly been one of the most consistent players on tour. 

He may have been a surprise winner to many at Olympic this week, but he won’t surprise people for the rest of his career.

He is one of the best young players on tour, and he has the potential and the game to only get better from here.