Will McIlroy's Victory in the US Open Awaken the Tiger?

Graeme McDowell is not the only golfer to suggest that his compatriot, Rory McDowell, is set to fill the gap left by Tiger Woods as the dominant player and media darling in world golf.

McDowell, who himself won the US Open 12 months ago, said in the wake of McIlroy’s phenomenal victory at the US Open at Congressional: "He's the best player I've ever seen and he's going to be a great ambassador for the sport." The 22 year old became the youngest winner of a major since Woods won the US Masters in 1997/

Upon answering the obvious comparisons between McIlroy and Woods, McDowell commented: "Will he achieve what Tiger has? Can he be that good? Yeah. He's got that potential."

McIlroy also became the youngest US Open Champion since Bobby Jones won in 1923 and won the tournament with a record score for the event of 16 under par, which put him eight shots clear of nearest rival, Jason Day. His win is now quite rightly being compared to that of Woods when he won the same title at Pebble Beach in 2000.

The win was even more remarkable when consideration is given to McIlroy’s final round catastrophe in the Masters at Augusta, where he eventually finished 15th after starting the final round with a four stroke lead. The strength of character he showed after that dreadful day is true testimony of his attitude and will to win, particularly for a young man who, no doubt about it, has already shown that he has the ability to match Tiger's achievements.

We all know that Woods has been blighted by a sequence of events that would challenge any sportsman’s sanity. His marriage crumbled in the wake of a string of infidelities in 2009. Before that, he suffered a serious injury to his left leg in 2008, which kept him off course for almost eight months and has since injured himself again this year, which resulted in him withdrawing from the Players Championship in May and missing the US Open.

Woods, who has not won a tournament since taking the BMW Championship at Lemont in 2009, has plummeted in the world rankings to number 17. However, he is expected to return to the fold at the AT&T International at the end of June, before making his way over to England to contest the Open Championship at Royal St George.

At 35 years old, it is far too early to ‘write him off;’ after all, he has won 14 majors. But unless he recovers fully from his injuries and is able to get his swing to exactly to the level he wants it, doubts will continue to be expressed as each winless tournament goes by. 

However, Tiger has proven on many occasions in the past that he is capable of bouncing back, and with a young pretender in the form of Rory McIlroy now hogging his media limelight, it could be the catalyst that awakens the Tiger back to the player he once was and we know he can be.