PGA Tour Championship 2012: Tiger Woods Must Intensify Rory McIlroy Rivalry

Tiger Woods is having a terrific season. He's won three tournaments, finished in the top 10 nearly half the time and sits in second place heading into the final playoff event. Yet, it seems all anybody wants to talk about is Rory McIlroy.

Leading up to the Tour Championship, former star Greg Norman turned a lot of heads by saying Woods had become intimidated by the 23-year-old Northern Irish sensation. A surprising comment considering Woods has always been on the other side of that equation.

While it's hard to believe one of the best golfers to ever step foot on a course would be intimidated by anybody, let alone a player with 12 fewer major titles than him, there has definitely been a different feel to Woods' rivalry with McIlroy.

During the period when Woods was running away with tournaments and winning majors at an awe-inspiring rate, he was all about business. He would crush the field for three days so he could enjoy a Sunday stroll, not worrying about making friends in the process.

Rounds Woods played with McIlroy throughout 2012 haven't had the same feel. The world's two best golfers have been seen making small talk and laughing while walking around the course. Not just once or twice, but pretty consistently.

For somebody like Woods, who's always been a private person and even more so since his personal issues a couple years ago, it's been an unusual change of pace to see him genuinely enjoying McIlroy's company.

But it also seems to have taken the killer instinct away. There were times when it seemed like every time Woods entered the weekend within striking distance of the lead he would win. Now when he's in those situations he struggles to break par.

It all comes down to his mindset. Before the meltdown of his game—which he has since brought all the way back to an elite level, something that's a lot easier said than done—he had confidence he would win. Since then, it's almost like he's trying too hard and not letting himself play freely.

Instead of having the aforementioned killer instinct naturally ingrained in his approach, he's trying to will himself across the finish line and has been coming up just short quite a bit lately.

Woods needs something to motivate him beyond simply winning. A true rivalry with McIlroy would do the trick. One similar to what he had with Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and others back in the day, which drove him to previously unseen heights.

When you like the person you're trying to chase down on the leaderboard, it's hard to have the same intensity as when there's no real relationship. That's just human nature, especially for a competitive person like Woods.

The 36-year-old American, who will lead the United States into a Ryder Cup battle with McIlroy's European crew later in the month, still has a chance to win the Tour title with a win at the Tour Championship. He's in the last group with McIlroy on Thursday.

Woods should put the nice-guy version of himself away for a week. Turn his competition with McIlroy, who stands between him and the marquee victory he's been seeking, into a true rivalry.

In other words, show the rising star what intimidation really looks like. Woods' former rivals certainly know.