Rory McIlroy has realised one of his
dreams with a record-shattering
romp to victory at the U.S. Open
Sunday for his first major title but
the 22-year-old now yearns to test
himself against his golf idol, Tiger
Woods.
“When I was growing up, I always
had putts to beat Tiger Woods in
the Masters or U.S. Open,” said
McIlroy. “So it would be great to be
able to get in contention one day ....
and go down the stretch with him
because I’ve never really had that
experience before.
“Hopefully, he can get healthy and
can get back playing good golf,
because the game of golf is a better
place with him playing well,” he said
of Woods, who missed his first U.S.
Open in 16 years due to leg injuries.
The Ulsterman’s performance filled
the void left by Woods, breaking
five scoring records at the 111th
edition of the U.S. Open at rain-
softened Congressional.
He lit up the 18th green with a
beaming smile and heartwarming
“Happy Father’s Day” hug with his
white-haired father, Gerry.
“I think the course did me a few
favours this week with the condition
of it,” he said. “If this golf course
was firm and hard, I don’t think
anyone could have got to 16-under-
par.” McIlroy swept away any
doubts about his grit by bouncing
back from a final-round collapse
two months ago at the Masters to
pulverise the field in a rout
reminiscent of Woods’s own
runaway wins at the 1997 Masters
and 2000 U.S. Open.
His final-round 69 gave him a 268
total that shattered the previous U.S.
Open record co-owned by Woods
by four strokes. Being 16-under for
the championship was also four
shots better than the old record set
by Woods in 2000 at Pebble Beach.
The new champion said he tried to
emulate 14-times major winner
Woods at Congressional.
“Just growing up and watching him,
watching him dominate at the
Masters at ‘97, watching him
dominate at Pebble in 2000 and St.
Andrews and just trying to go out
there with the same intensity that he
has, and the same ‘no lead is big
enough.’”
Prove people wrong
McIlroy had only won one U.S.
Tour event and one European Tour
event coming into the tournament,
but he had displayed his sublime
talent in finishing tied for third in last
year’s British Open and PGA
Championship and tied for 10th at
the 2009 U.S. Open.
The former world number one
ranked amateur looked poised to
make the Masters his first major
when he carried a four-shot lead
into the final round.
By the 10th hole, however, that lead
had shrunk to one and he
unravelled at the 10th hole with a
series of wayward shots that led to
triple-bogey and an ugly final-round
80 on his card.
Some believed the wounds of that
public humiliation would take their
toll on the young golfer.
“I felt like I got over the Masters
pretty quickly,” said McIlroy, who
finished third the next week in
Malaysia.
“I kept telling you guys that and I
don’t know if you believed me or
not. But here you go (laughter). Nice
to prove some people wrong.” With
his first major in the bag, McIlroy is
already being asked how many
more he will win.
“It’s nice that people say that he
could be this or he could be that or
he could win 20 major
championships, but at the end of
the day I’ve won one,” said McIlroy.
“I obviously want to add to that
tally.
“When you win a major quite early
in your career, everyone is going to
draw comparisons, it’s natural,” he
said, steering back to three-times
U.S. Open winner Woods.
“It would just be nice obviously for
him to be healthy again and get his
knee and his Achilles in shape and
be back out on the golf course,
because he does bring a little
something extra to tournaments,”
he said.
“He’s Tiger Woods.
“I’m just happy to be sitting here
with the trophy that has his name
on it.”
September 17, 2009, 07:18:17 AM