Rory McIlroy: US Open Proves Life Without Tiger Woods Is Just as Dramatic

Rory McIlroy Takes Center Stage As Golf's Biggest Story 

There is a constant nagging feeling pulling at the heart of a every sports fan. We are always looking towards the future, hardly content with the majesty that is the present. 

Basketball offers the most obvious example of "what was, will come around once again." We hope. No great player can step on a court without looking down and noticing the looming shadow of Michael Jordan. 

This is one part of the drama that makes sport the greatest reality television out there. Forget Keeping up with the Kardashians. I will take hours of footage replayed on ESPN Classic any day. 

Golf is no different. 

The characters are altered, but the same general classic tale remains. There are the legends of old in Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. They offer the measuring stick by which we measure the best that will ever be, Tiger Woods. 

Woods came out of the gate as a brash young golfer who took the world by storm. There wasn't a stage too big for him to dominate. 

I will never forget Tiger Woods coming back to win the 2008 US Open on one leg—a pesky Rocco Mediate seemed to never relent. 

That may be the last chapter of the great golfer. Woods may indeed return and find success despite lingering issues. This week has afforded us a glimpse into life after he is gone. 

The danger is hoping to convince passing golf fans to take an interest in this game. Sadly, it will be quite some time before we see another polarizing figure. Woods wears his emotions all over his face. The pouting and yelling is both annoying and captivating. 

But I am still here. After two rounds of the 2011 US Open, I struggle to remember what that Tiger looked like in his prime. There is a new kid on the block with his own demons to thwart. 

If you want drama, all you need is to flip on the television this weekend and take a gander at Rory McIlroy. The story is simple: a wunderkind hellbent on thwarting past disasters. 

The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland sprinted to a magnificent start at St. Andrews in 2010. His 9-under par 63 was the lowest on record to start the Open Championship in 150 years. He then bombed an 80 the following day.

The 2011 iteration of the Masters offered a similar setting. McIlroy destroyed the field for three days. Then, on the final day, he shot himself into oblivion with an 80, another meltdown for an otherwise masterful virtuoso.

Golf is a special game. You don't play another man. You play the course, and in so doing, you play yourself.

McIlroy takes yet another commanding lead into the weekend at a major. With his legacy being shaped, we will see an athlete try to fight against past demons.

Every missed fairway gets accentuated. Every missed par adds to the pressure he will put on himself. Is he the next Tiger? He is the best at dealing with pressure, after all. The measuring stick is currently at home nursing a sore knee. 

Where Rory McIlroy fits in rests on how he does in these big moments. This weekend will once again provide a gauntlet of personal adversary for McIlroy. 

You see, the drama is there. You just have to know where to look for it.

For more 2011 U.S. Open coverage, stay tuned to Bleacher Report for U.S. Open scores and leaderboard updates, and the latest news and analysis.