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Photograph by: Jim Rogash , Getty Images via leaderpost.com |
We watched his cherubic traits take on the more angular edge of adulthood as his game evolved into something so impressive as to leave us with little doubt we'd be watching an Ulsterman golfer on Sunday afternoons for years to come.
There were, in fact, periods of mental malaise, the most recent of which came earlier this summer with a string of missed cuts, but as the summer waned, McIlroy staged an assertive comeback, winning the 2012 PGA Championship by a record eight shots and displaying an astonishing consistency on the greens. Yesterday it was the Deutsche Bank Championship and a follow-up win that had more than a few golf writers celebrating the dawning of the McIlroy era. Tiger Woods shot a 66 yesterday to finish two strokes back in third while third round leader Louis Oosthuizen settled for second. Not surprisingly others saw yesterday's outcome from a slightly different perspective calling it the end of the Tiger era.
Meanwhile for hopeful golf fans the world over, yesterday's outcome signaled the tantalizing possibility of golf's next great rivalry.
For now however, I'll leave you with a few Rory stories from the past ...stories I posted during the rapid ascent of Mr. McIlroy.
Rory Mcilroy's Weekend... Under Monty's Watchful Eye
Final Note from Dunhill Links: A Stellar Day for Dyson
Dubai Golf - Lee Westwood Wins, Rory McIlroy Reacts
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ReplyDeletenicklaus over-shadowed arnie, just as palmer replaced hogan (no one ever compared to slammin sammy) and now young rory comes to the fore (pun intended)
i really do miss payne stewart however and without guys like darren clarke and bubba watson and jean vandevede GOLF would not be the same
So true. It takes a variety of excellent players with contrasting personalities and unique skill to make the tournaments interesting. Now throw in an intense rivalry and the audience is bound to grow. I'm looking forward to just that in 2013.
ReplyDeleteI've got a feeling a Tiger/Rory rivalry would be much more fun than Tiger/Phil ever was. Nothing against Phil but his chemistry with Tiger just never brought out the best in either player IMO. I think it'll be way different with Rory.
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ReplyDeleteMATCH PLAY really is the basis for RIVALRY
in the olde dayz many golfers would pair off during the touring season and play each other heads up in sponsored yet unoffical meetings on the days before and after tournaments
LEE TREVINO was one touring pro who early on made more money that way than in offical purses according to lore
today all the automatons with the rare exception like BUBBA WATSON are really to my eye and ear effectively the same both in their swings and public speak
even the caddies are clones of whole wheat bread and two-by-fours who cannot afford to say what they really want to
so even MATCHing two automatons against each other these days seems contrived by corporate script as filler for endless commercials
get RICH BEEM v JOHN DALY or DARREN CLARKE v JESPER PARNEVIK or how about beem / daly v clarke parnevik in a best ball foursome
i THINK the decline in GOLF is simply because it is too sterile and rigid and faux-formal because when i get a group together here in soFLA just for fun i never hear the end of it even years afterwards (in the immortal words of SHIVAs IRONs: "....the fu(k with ever getting better...") but that's off-topic and another story
I don't want it to be the end of the Tiger era. I hope that he can come back and display the type of amazing play. I am just not convinced I like Rory. He is doing amazing but I can't get over Tiger yet. It is to early.
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