Congratulations to Rory McIlroy on his U.S. Open victory, but let’s make something very clear…this was not even close to Tiger’s 2000 U.S. Open dominance.
Sure Rory beat the field like a rented mule. And yes his game looked tighter than anyone else allowed within the ropes. He won. He deserved to win, and he should take Grahame McDowell’s advice and enjoy it.
But when the media starts in with the “next Tiger Woods” and drawing comparisons to Tiger’s beat down of the 2000 U.S. Open field I lose it.
Fact: Rory McIlroy topped the lowest score to par in U.S. Open history set by Tiger Woods in 2000 (-12).
Reality: This course was barely ready to host an AT+T Invitational, not to mention the U.S. Freaking Open. Soft greens, playable rough, and pin placements where the ball fed to almost every hole?! The U.S. Open is supposed to be the toughest challenge in golf. I watched close to 5 shots feed back to the hole and almost go in for an ace. That’s muni-course crap. The grounds crew at Pinehurst and Pebble Beach are laughing their butts off saying “Is that all you got?”
I know the weather screwed up the plans and made things softer. So what? If the rains made the greens softer then why didn’t they make the rough gnarly and lush. We should have seen caddies searching for balls in the primary cut. Instead we watched Rory and the field slash 7 irons onto the green. Where is the punishment for a wayward tee ball? Again, congrats on the win, but…
How much different than 2000 was this. Look at a few details.
The top 7 finishers in the 2011 U.S. Open have a combined 1 major championship (Not including the one Rory just won). That would be Y.E. Yang, who by the way hasn’t won since his major victory at the PGA Championship in 2009. But those Top-7 would have all won the last SEVEN U.S. Opens! Does that seem right to anyone? If you put Rory’s scoring on par with Tiger’s does that mean we should put Kevin Chappell and Robert Garrigus on par with the late Payne Stewart for all posting -6?! Of course not!
When Tiger Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open he bested the entire field by 15 strokes. There were 18 players in this Open within that mark of Rory.
When Tiger posted the record -12 the next closest competitor was +3…AND within that Top 7 were 8 major wins at that point. Does that compare to the field Rory toped? Nope.
I’m not saying Rory won’t be great. He may challenge every record in the book someday. But can we all please step back and show Tiger some respect? He won by more. He beat a tougher field. And he did it on a tougher course. Give the man credit before you announce a 22 year old first time major winner is the second coming.
The good news is in life there will always be some constant. In this case it’s our favorite golfer. The beloved Phil Mickelson. In both 2000 and 2011, despite Tiger and Rory lighting up the board…Phil puked up a +9 and a +7 respectfully. By my math that means if you take Rory’s Open plus the 2000 Open he lost by a combined 44 Strokes! Well done Phil!
Well done Rory and I hope the best for you, but you’ll have to do more than that to be up there with the greatest players in the game.
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