I've got a feeling about Rory Mcilroy...

I almost hate to say it, but...   I now see the " Rory McIlroy is comparable to Tiger " discussion as legitimate conversation now.  Did you see the show he put on at the Wells Fargo last week??  Seriously, he made Quail Hollow look like a 6200yd municipal course!  By his own admission he didn't play very well coming down the stretch, and he still managed to get into the play-off.  I can understand his frustration...  it must be hard to flag-hunt when you suddenly hit the ball 25yds further with every club!!

Up to this point I've refrained from comparing anyone to Tiger, at least to any player younger than him.  The reason for that is, quite simply there has been no one to compare him to...  until now.  I remember the look of dis-belief and silly grins on my face watching young Tiger Woods amaze the world with his abilities.  I'm feeling it again people.  Rory McIlroy is a Tiger-esqe golfer.  Its the unparalleled length and the laser approach shots.  Its that slightly disgusted look when he knows he can do better. Its the grit and determination that shines through when he rebounds.  Its the way Feherty says "was that a 3-wood?!?!?!" after he outdrove Ricky Fowler by 20yds.  You can see the talent oozing out of him when he smiles because the game is so stinking fun.

Needless to say, I'm drinkin the water.  Watch this kid Rory McIlroy and enjoy the show!

The one (and very important) thing missing: He couldn't sink the makeable birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win it right there.

But other than that, he hit some great tee shots and played well all around. I really like him, but give him some time to develop his game.

I enjoy watching Rory play with that happy-go-lucky attitude of his and his effortless to watch swing. I think he's a great golfer, but only time will tell if he will win as much as Tiger used to.

Meh... still WAY too early to say things like that. The kid is talanted for sure, but he's got a LONG way to go to do the things Tiger did back in his hey day.

Everybody hits it long now days. Did ya forget about Bubba already? Length also isn't everything. It's scoring and winning Majors.

Slow down the buggy there scotty.

If i had to compare there styles,

Driving & Irons: Rory

Putting & Shortgame: Tiger

Its a slight edge for Rory in the long game... I think Rory has a chance to be really really good. I like to see him really work on that putting and his short game will come with more practice and experience as well.

I hear ya, the kool-aid is delicious. Pretty sure he hit a 380 yarder on friday (I think it was friday), dunno if he'll hit Tiger heights, but damn, he is fun to watch.

Rory seems like a great kid that's very grounded and well adjusted.  His golf game is very good with above average distance and pretty good short game too.  Skills wise he might be close to Tiger, but IMO he's yet to consistently demonstrate the mental toughness and stamina Tiger showed in his early years thats necessary to win as much as Tiger.

He may be there skill-wise, but he has not yet demonstrated the "clutch-ness" that has epitomized Tiger's career.  From the US Amateur comebacks, to the stiffed iron shot he hit to win his first PGA event (in a playoff against Lehman), to the putts he dropped at the PGA to beat Bob May, to (of course) the amazing show at Torrey Pines when he beat Rocco, Tiger has always found a way to convince us as fans that he would find a way to win.

Rory is an incredible talent.  Watching him hit those 3-woods at Quail Hollow was silly.  I can see why folks would want to make him into Tiger Woods, but c'mon folks.  There is only one Tiger Woods.

WTF are u talking about rorys number 1 look at the standing hes beating tiger hes better tiger is inconsistant u cant change ur swing and every thing else hes changed and exspect to play well tigers a terrable player in my ipinion and he has not respect for other players rorys the one to watch ricky fowler is up there to but hes still to younge and eager hell hit a hipout point in the next year and slow down then he will get some patients and maybe start to climb up the roster but for now and a long time i balieve rory is the man to beat

Rory has potential.....no doubt!  He'll never measure up...my 2 cents.

Rory needs to start winning PGA  tour events in Bunches including multiple majors each year to even be worthy beginning to entertain such a discussion.  He needs to start winning NOW.....picking off the odd victory a year or 2 won't get it done.

Rory has no chance to measure-up with tiger unless he commits himself full time to the PGA tour.   So far, he is like Luke Donald.....great at making top10s, but not much of golf champion. At this point, making a comparison is laughable.

Rory is not Tiger, not yet at least. Tiger had accomplished more by that age.

yea...no kidding!!  Tiger had 24 wins while he was still 24years old.    Rory is 23 with 3.....................there is nothing to compare yet.

PS

Tiger had 46 wins before he turned 30.....

OK, Yes I'm being a bit of a smart-azz here but I'll drop the big bomb that all the Tiger-Lovers drop on Jack Nicklaus! It was easier to win back in 1996-2000 than it is today.

When Tiger turned Pro nearly all the best players in the world were at or near the end of their careers or prime if you like: Faldo, Seve, Price, Norman, Stewart, Kite, Crenshaw, Couples, Love,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. So Tiger lit up Ed Fiori- type guy's and scored a lot of wins very quickly. VJ found the foutain of youth hidden somewhere in Florida to this day, and Duval made some crazy pact with the Devil to reach #1 for a couple days(not sure what happened to Phil and Ernie, they just kind of wilted, but at least Phil finally got his balls back, I mean he eventually won a Major), but outside of that it took a new generation of players to catch up to Tiger.

This is not a Tiger-bash, Tiger ambushed the PGA Tour with his length and short game and ran scott-free through the fields in those early years. Tiger set the standard and this new generation of players have responded with incredible length, fitness and talent. You can argue all you want that Tiger isn't winning as much because of swing changes, personal problems, or whatever, but I think it's just harder to win now than it was 10-12 years ago. There's so many young, long, talented players out there right now so give Rory a little bit of a pass. He could have exclusively played the Euro or Asian Tours and perhaps double or trippled his win count by now.

I just enjoy watching Rory play! He's not quite the putter that Tiger was in his hayday but if he can improve that just a smidge, I could see him putting at least a sizeable dent in the record books.

Rory will have a longer career than Tiger, in my opinion. Tiger tore up his knee while he was winning like that, and played a major on a broken leg that couldn't have healed completely after that. As a result he has more wins, but he's already getting hurt on a weekly basis and his mental game isn't there anymore. Rory's swing is much better than Tiger's, it might cause him some back troubles but his knees will outlast Tiger's. So maybe he'll be behind Tiger at 30, but his 30s and likely his 40s will hold a bundle of wins, especially if he improves his mental game and putting. Whether he's dominant at that point or not, I expect a good possibility of double digit major wins. Honestly it's not looking too good for Tiger to catch Jack, and having so little time left is hurting Tiger. Rory must feel like he has all the time in the world; he has perhaps 30 years to do it, and 15 years of his prime. I don't feel like he's peaked yet either. I think he can break his own records from the 2011 US open.

Honestly, I don't want Tiger to come back, I don't think he deserves it and I doubt he will. I hope he mellows out and gains some humility, and I'd love to see him win a major in 10 years out of nowhere. I think he might see things differently if he won a tournament like Nicklaus did in '86. I don't want Rory to totally monopolize pro golf, but he's going to rack up wins at some point and majors don't slow him down. His gift is that he can shoot 65 on any course whatsoever and get 4 rounds below par, even if the course is absurdly difficult. Once he wins the Masters, no one will question him. That's really his main hurdle at the moment. The one liability of his is that he has said he sucks in the wind, and he couldn't win a British Open if it were windy. I couldn't see him going his whole career without at least one, but Jack and Tiger did make good use of that event to rack up wins while he will likely struggle.

I'm thinking some of the posters who try to compare guys like Rory to Tiger are either too young or new to the game to have really seen/followed golf as Tiger emerged to dominance.  Tiger has been a pro since 1996............I'm guessing a large percentage of the folks posting here weren't following golf back then...  Seeing history unfold with your own eyes on a week to week basis and watching highlights after the fact are very different things.  Unless you are someone who's been following the TOUR as it happened every week as it unfolded.....it's hard to appreciate/grasp the historical significance of what he did.   For at least a decade.......the #2 player in the world was light years behind.       Tiger was winning nearly half of the events he entered...........it's nearly incomprehensible.   he was stringing wins together 3-4-5-6 in a row like it was nothing.

He may not go down as the greatest champion ever now that's he's lost his game...........but he will go down as the most dominant player over a significant period of time.  Nobody dominated like tiger did for more than a decade.......

No doubt.  Rory has had what, 3 3/4 great tournaments?  Even before all the wins as a professional, remember Tiger won 3 consecutive US Juniors, then 3 consecutive US Amateurs before he even turned pro!  Rory is a great talent, but he's no Tiger Woods.

Just ask Colin Montgomerie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-tcbfMelYo