2011 U.S. Open Championship: Why Congressional Needed Tiger Woods This Weekend

U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy said he knew the significance of his four-day performance at Congressional. Even with what could be described as one of the best performances in a major golf championship ever, McIlroy, the 22-year-old Northern Ireland native, wanted more.

“I know about Tiger in 2000. I wanted to emulate him,” he told Bob Costas after accepting his championship trophy.

McIlroy did about as good a Tiger Woods impersonation as anyone has in the last 11 years, taking the U.S. Open course hostage for 72 holes and making it his own golf clinic as others could only stand by and watch. But still in the back of McIlroy’s mind was the need to play better.

To play like Tiger.

Until Sunday, Tiger’s 2000 U.S. Open performance at Pebble Beach was considered the standard bearer of golf excellence for the tournament. Then, along came McIlroy. It was only fitting that the youngster gave credit to the ailing Woods for inspiring him to be a better player.

Congressional may not have had Woods in the field for the four days in Washington, D.C., but his presence in the past still played a part in the outcome and maybe the future of professional golf.

For all the 20-something golfers on the tour, both American and foreign, it was Woods' performances of the past decade that have set the tone for what was accomplished with McIlroy lapping the field to shoot a record 16-under-par 268 for the tournament. In what can only be described as a run-away, other golfers tried their best and could not break the momentum of the world’s eighth-ranked player.

The closest to him was Jason Day of Australia, who finished eight-under and the closest Americans were Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell, who both finished at six-under par.

Woods was a non-factor in terms of play this weekend, having decided to remain out of competition while his Achilles and leg continue to  heal after a six-over 42 in the front nine of The Players Championship at Ponte Vedra. The 14-time major champion was mentioned little in commentary, if only to put into perspective what he accomplished 11 years ago and how great McIlroy was playing and challenging Woods’ greatness.

Maybe Woods was needed this weekend to prove a few things to the PGA, fans and the U.S. Golf Association. While there are some who have been clamoring for someone other than Woods to take the reins as the leader of American golf (enter Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker, etc.), it is still Woods that gets the major publicity and coverage at tournaments for the marketing machine that he is.

And while America is still waiting for another Woods or Woods-like performance (enter Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, Dustin Johnson, etc.), no one has stepped up as of yet.

The foreign-born players have caught the U.S. golfers in cyclical fashion and overtaken them as the best in the world. The top three players; Luke Donald, Lee Westwood Martin Kayner, have proved to be far superior by their rankings than the closest Americans at slots four, five and six—Steve Stricker, Mickelson and Kuchar.

Woods’ game is in decline and while he has worked to find a better swing coach, gone through other personal dilemmas and tried to change his approach to the game that made him great and where he turned a generation on to a “new and sexy” sport, it would have been fitting to see the 36-year-old pass the torch over to the new generation.

There is speculation about Woods and his career and chasing Jack Nicklaus’ 18 major championships is even possible now that father time is catching him. But just having him at an event like this—where Americans have fared the worst of all the majors over time and history—would have shown that Woods understands the significance of McIlroy’s feat and would also show Woods accepts that there are others who are ready to carry on the golfing tradition.

Golf, the PGA and the USGA may not need Tiger to be the Tiger of old, but now the teacher of those in front of him. He set the bar so high for so many years, that finally golf may have found someone who can handle that status and carry on the tradition in his honor.