With a dramatic win at last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship, Rory McIlroy moved atop the FedEx Cup standings, a position he may just be starting to get used to. Rory now not only leads the race for the $10 Million bonus prize, he’s also No. 1 on the World Golf Rankings, leads the PGA Money List, has the lowest scoring average on Tour and is tied for first in top ten finishes and wins this year. Not bad for a 23 year old.
There’s a lot more to McIlroy’s success than just his stats though. For the first time in a long time we’ve been able to see someone that’s just as comfortable turning a two-stroke lead into an eight stroke win, like he did at last year’s US Open and this year’s PGA Championship, or holding onto a one-stroke lead down the stretch like he showed us in Boston this past Monday. He doesn’t have the same aura as a Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus quite yet, but in comparing him to the greats of the game’s past, he’s making strides towards getting into that conversation.
By the time Tiger Woods’ 24th birthday rolled around he had 15 PGA Tour wins and two majors. Jack Nicklaus had eight wins and three majors. Rory has until next May before he turns 24, and he’s notched five PGA Tour wins and two majors, with plenty of golf and another Masters still to play before he reaches that benchmark. With the top-to-bottom strength of the fields on the Tour these days I highly doubt that we will ever see another golfer dominate as Tiger did back in the early 2000’s, but if McIlroy just keeps on the same pace of winning majors, one in every 8.5 at this point (and he hasn’t even hit his prime yet), he will come in around the 14 mark by the time he’s 50, putting him in the all-time top three. I think it’s safe to say the sky is the limit for the young Irishman and, as he continues to learn to win even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, the rest of the Tour may be forced into playing for 2nd once again.
Something to keep in mind, Tiger Woods’ best year as a pro came when he was 24, racking up 10 wins, three of which were majors, and totaling 18 top 5’s. As I mentioned, I don’t think anyone will ever dominate like that again, but the next few years could be something special for Rory, so look out.
McIlroy will be paired with Tiger once again for the first two rounds of this week’s BMW Championship, and it looks as though we’re finally seeing the beginning of what could be one of the best rivalries in golf history. The event will be held at Crooked Stick Golf Course in Indiana, home to famed golf course designer Pete Dye. The last time the Tour played there was the 1991 PGA Championship when the tournament’s ninth-alternate John Daly burst onto the scene, mullet and all. There has been a lot of rain in the area recently, and a premium will be placed on driving the ball long and on the fairway.
This week’s field will consist of the top 70 golfers on the FedEx Cup points list. McIlroy, Barclay’s winner Nick Watney and Tiger Woods make up the top three, and there are still two Canadians, David Hearn (58th) and Graham DeLaet (60th) in the mix as well. They’ll have their work cut out for them as only the top 30 will advance to the Tour Championship two weeks from now in Atlanta. Notables on the bubble are Graeme McDowell (41st) and Adam Scott (25th).
One of the main focuses of the players in the hunt this week will be getting into the top five on the points list. Any player who wins the Tour Championship after starting the week in the top five guarantees themselves the FedEx Cup title and $10 million bonus.
Another interesting thing to look out for will be the play of both the Ryder Cup Captain’s picks and the guys who got snubbed. Dustin Johnson (6th), Brandt Snedeker (4th), Jim Furyk (21st) and Steve Stricker (16th) will all be in the field, as will Hunter Mahan (14th) and Rickie Fowler (24th).