Arnold Palmer Invitational: Now We Have a Real Tiger Woods-Rory McIlroy Rivalry

In case you haven't heard, Tiger Woods has been playing some pretty good golf recently.

After being written off by many members of the gossipy golf community—both players and media members—Woods has won six of the last 20 tournaments he has entered.

The latest was his triumph at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods got the best of Justin Rose by two strokes and a group of four golfers that included Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler by five strokes.

For the record, Woods shot a 13-under par 275 and earned $1,116,000 for his eighth career win in the tournament at Bay Hill. The win moved him back into familiar territory; Woods is once again the top-ranked golfer in the world.

He took the No. 1 rank back from Rory McIlroy, who has dominated the world of golf since the middle of the 2011 season. McIlroy won four golf tournaments in 2012 and was the best golfer in the world last year.

While Woods has been roaring in 2013, McIlroy has been struggling, with just over $209,000 in earnings. He's played inconsistently and has not come close to winning a PGA Tour event. Woods has won three of the four medal-play events he has entered this year.

With Woods as close to the top of his game as he he's been since his last major victory—a playoff win over Rocco Mediate in the 2008 US Open—the battle for the top spot in the world of golf will resume in earnest at the Masters.

McIlroy not only had the top ranking last year, he had the swagger and look of a champion. McIlroy was a big hitter who was seemingly unafraid of any challenge he faced on the golf course.

The same could not be said of golfers like Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia when it appeared they might challenge Woods for the "best golfer in the world" accolade. Both of those supreme talents seemed to lack the intangible characteristics needed to sustain a run at the top of the golf heap.

They didn't play with the confidence and consistency to challenge Woods consistently.

McIlroy doesn't lack those characteristics.

It also seems like both men like each other and enjoy competing against each other, but you don't have to be a golf aficionado to realize that Woods and Mickelson aren't the best of friends.

They represent two factions in the world of golf.

To have a great rivalry in the sport, you need golfers who have some degree of steel in their spine. McIlroy demonstrated he had just that when he blew the 2011 Masters by shooting an 80 in the final round after leading through three rounds.

A finish like that would have buried a majority of players on the tour; McIlroy was bothered so much by it that he came back to record a dominating win in the US Open, firing a 16-under-par 268 and winning the tournament by eight strokes.

He earned his second major triumph when he won the British Open last year.

Woods, of course, is chasing down Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major victories. He performed poorly in the majors last year, giving away any chances he had to win in the final two rounds of three of the four majors.

Woods demands excellence of himself, and while he is playing spectacular golf, he won't be satisfied until he starts winning major championships again.

If and when they come, it will mean big news that will be all over the sports page and the front page.

But they will mean even more because Woods has a real rival to battle in McIlroy.

Woods will have to overcome great golfers like defending champion Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell, Bradley and Mickelson if he wants to win the Masters.

However, he knows his biggest rival is McIlroy. A slow start by McIlroy this year is just an obstacle for the star from Northern Ireland to overcome.

Woods has shown he will be ready. If McIlroy can get his game back on track at the Shell Houston Open this weekend, golf fans can prepare for a huge chapter in the Woods-McIlroy rivalry.