McIlroy shines in red while Tiger fades again

Rory McIlroy

Tiger Woods

The winner had on a red shirt but it wasn’t Tiger Woods. The new king of the hill is Rory McIlroy who took over as the world’s number one ranked golfer by winning the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Ocean Course by eight shots over unknown David Lynn.

McIlroy appeared on cruise control as he tamed the monster that is Kiawah Island with a final round 66 on Sunday to capture his second major in as many years, the youngest player since the late Seve Ballesteros to accomplish such a feat.

As for Woods, it was another weekend collapse—by his standards-- in the majors, the fourth this year as he seeks to regain the form that won him 14 major titles before his off-the-course difficulties overtook his golf game. Now Woods still has plenty of game as he has three tour wins this year. But he hasn’t been able to hold that form in the majors even though his early rounds have been sharp.

Woods entered the weekend tied for the lead but couldn’t keep it up. The same thing that happened earlier this year at the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open. He shot a final round 72 to finish 13 shots behind McIlroy and a tie for 11th place. Woods, as usual, wore a red shirt on Sunday but it was red-shirted McIlroy who played like the old Woods.
 
Woods remains stuck on 14 major titles, four behind record-holder Jack Nicklaus and looking less like the cinch he appeared to be to pass Nicklaus in the near future, or ever for that matter. Woods is being regularly overshadowed in the majors on the weekends, and McIlroy backed up his U.S. Open Championship last year with a Tiger-like performance in the PGA Championship.

Will Tiger ever win another major?  Will he be able to find enough inside to challenge Nicklaus as the greatest golfer ever by winning more majors than the Golden Bear? At 36, Woods still has time. Nicklaus won his last major, the Masters, at age 46. But Woods isn’t the same player today that he was a few years ago. His domestic breakup and the rising young stars like McIlroy seem to have taken their toll on his will to win. For now, McIlroy wears the crown as the top player in the world at the ripe old age of 23, his future holds great promise.  Woods will have to wait until next April, at Augusta, to try and regain his major touch but McIlroy, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, and the rest of the young stars on tour are not going to go away.  

 It would be sad if Woods is finished as a great player at such an early age.  He was so good for so long, it’s hard to see him struggle on the weekends in the majors he so dearly wants to win.  Maybe he will come back but it appears certain that he will never regain the form that so dominated golf before his life came tumbling down.