Sports Betting Blog

It’s not a secret, or at least it should be taken as a secret that golf, as a sport, is in a serious need of a new hero, a new face, a new player that can be that breath of fresh air that the sport needs. For over a decade and a half the sport has been dominated by a single player that has managed to win 14 Mayor Tournaments, but that saw how his professional and personal life began to crumble down when after a couple too many drinks hit crashed his car against a tree. Almost two year’s since the incident that revealed Tiger Woods in his utter mess, in what many has believed to be the eclipse of his stardom, one young and talented Irishman has began what many foresee as the new face of golf.

On the fair fields of the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, in what the press has already called 4 days of mind-boggling golf, Rory McIlroy has managed to win his first US Open. Poised to fulfill his potential and become the youngest Masters champion since Tiger Woods, McIlroy shot 80 in a final round that was painful to watch. There was only one name called during the whole tournament. At 268, McIlroy hit the lowest 72-hole score in the US Open. He improved over the performances of Jim Furyk in 2003 at Olympia Fields and he even surpassed the out-of-this-world performance by Tiger Woods in the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach.

We can’t forget that this has been only 2 months after the young McIlroy suffered that final day collapse in Augusta National during the Masters. It was such a painful thing to see, for he deserved to win, and if he wasn’t meant to win his first Masters so young, he shouldn’t had to deal with such an crushing collapse when there where only 9 holes left to go.

On the press conference, after winning the title, McIlroy looked so much older and wiser than he seemed just four days ago. “I felt like I got over the Masters pretty quickly. I kept telling you guys that, and I don’t know if you believed me or not. But here you go,” McIlroy said in the press conference, pointing at the shiny prize on the table. “Nice to prove some people wrong.”

Not only did he prove a few people wrong, he also made a name for himself in the history of the sport. He has set a new record for the US Open tournament, and at 22-years-old the talented son of a Irish bartender who had to work three different jobs to keep his son’s dream alive, became the youngest player since 1923 to win the US Open Championship.

To really put this into perspective, we need to analyze just how good his numbers where in this tournament. The combined scores of the last 10 U.S. Open champions were 14-under par. McIlroy was 16 under. He finished eight shots ahead of Jason Day, whose score of 8-under 276 would have been enough to win 26 of the last 30 U.S. Opens.

The Meltdown or How to make fire from Ashes

The comparisons have already begun. Many are expecting the talented young man to be the next Tiger Woods. Before I go on and give you my take on this, I want to tell you a short story. A story of what happened just two months ago. Rory McIlroy shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 in the first round of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia to take the lead after the first day of the four-day competition. At first, many believed this was just an act of plain luck. He had been a good player and had climbed in the rankings, but his performance in the mayors hadn’t been that spectacular.

He lacked experience. It was just his seventh round in competition ever on the course. But somehow, just like he did in Congressional, he was managing to make it all look ridiculously easy. At the finish of the first day of competition, Rory McIlroy was the youngest player to ever lead the Masters at that given point.

On Friday, he shot a 69 to lead by two strokes over Jason Day with a 10-under-par score. He was starting to turn heads. Many believed that he wouldn’t make it pass the first three holes on Saturday. And that’s when McIlroy shot 70 to finish at 12-under-par, four strokes ahead of four other challengers coming from behind.

Then came the debacle. On the fourth and final day, McIlroy not only failed to rise to the level of his previous three rounds, he actually shot the worst round in history by any professional golfer leading after the third round of the Masters. It was heartbreaking.

That’s why his performance on Sunday was as important as any you might have seen in the last decade of professional golf. He was coming back from a very though mental meltdown, the same scenario; the same pressure was there. But he shined all the way to the end. This time it was not three but four days of flawless golf. On Sunday, McIlroy pulled off a 2-under 69 to shatter U.S. Open records. Let’s not forget that for years this was considered the toughest test in professional golf. McIlroy made it look so easy that we might need to reevaluate that previous notion.

To really put this into perspective, we need to analyze just how good his numbers where in this tournament. The combined scores of the last 10 U.S. Open champions were 14-under par. McIlroy was 16 under. He finished eight shots ahead of Jason Day, whose score of 8-under 276 would have been enough to win 26 of the last 30 U.S. Opens.

Rory McIlroy might be considered by many to be the new Tiger Woods. I really hope that he can understand one simple fact. He has no reason why he should be the next anything. Perhaps all he should do is keep focusing on his game, keeping that failure in Augusta of a reminder of what can go wrong, and how he could use that failure to fuel bigger and better goals. Deep down inside, I just hope that Rory McIlroy doesn’t become the next Tiger Woods. I’m quite convinced that he is going to be just, if not more, as successful as Rory McIlroy, because deep down inside we all know he is a different breed of cat.