We talked a lot about the first round of the British Open yesterday as you would expect. Of course, the leaderboard after Round 1 looked a mix of great players, complete unknowns, players who have fallen off the map and some solid guys. However, there are two in particular that stick out to me and may be linked together for years to come if projections are correct. Those two are: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
All the talk coming into this week’s tournament was how Tiger would do at his favourite golf course and how he could cast aside the demons that are plaguing his life on the course and off the course as well. But another problem that Tiger Woods will have to eventually face in the next few years is a wave of unbelievably talented golfers that are ready to pluck him off the Number 1 spot, and that group is being led by none other than Rory McIlroy.
In the past, so much has been talked about Tiger’s dominant performances, particularly at major championships. Winning by a handful of strokes or more was considered to be normal for Tiger as the rest of the field trembled at the idea of the mighty Tiger making them look foolish and unworthy to even be in the same field as him.
He won his first major at the Masters in 1997 by a staggering 12 shots. He won a couple of majors in 2000 by ridiculous margins: a 15 shot win at Pebble Beach for a U.S. Open title and an 8 shot victory at the British Open at St. Andrews, where they’re playing this week.
The poor player that was paired up with him on the Sunday of a major would most likely be ridiculed because he’d be one of many that couldn’t handle the pressure of playing alongside Tiger Woods. Tiger had an aura and an unbelievable presence about him only a couple of years ago that would allow him to have a couple of extra shots on the field, purely on reputation alone.
But in the wake of his extra-marital affairs, all of a sudden, that aura went away as his vulnerabilities were more and more exposed. Tiger went from being a feared opponent to a running joke. You would think it would be impossible for him to get back the swagger that put so much fear into all of his opponents.
However, most of us would agree that if he were to put together a major win or two, plus a couple of PGA Tour victories to end out the calendar year, then he might be able to get back the kind of respect and fear that he had before all of his troubles began.
The problem to me with the theory is that it doesn’t account for everyone on Tour. Yes, it might put the fear back into his biggest rivals like Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and all the other notables that have been around the tour for a decade or so, but I don’t think it necessarily puts any more fear into those that are in their early 20’s and hungry to take Tiger off his high pedestal.
Those in their early 20’s would not have subjected to the emotional aspect of Tiger’s dominance on the course. They most likely would have marvelled at what they saw as they watched with their parents on TV, only to try and emulate what they saw the very next day. They weren’t in a position to be intimidated by Tiger Woods because they were too young to be out there to experience it in person.
Think of it this way: When Tiger Woods won his first major at the Masters by an unbelievable 12 shots, Rory McIlroy was 8 years old. When Tiger Woods won his third major at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by a staggering 15 shots, Rory McIlroy was 11 years old. Ryo Ishikawa was 8. Matteo Manassero was 5. All of those players were so young that playing as a professional golfer was just a dream.
It’s hard to see Tiger Woods as an older player since he’s still only in his mid-30’s, but in the minds of these 20-somethings (or even less) like McIlroy, Ryo Ishikawa, Dustin Johnson, Camilo Vilegas, Anthony Kim and even 15 year-old Matteo Manassero, he’s the old man that they looking to knock off so that they can be the new number one player in the world.
They have to be looking at guys like Woods, Mickelson and the rest of the “old-folks” and saying to themselves, “Their time in the sun is over, it’s time for a new generation to have the spotlight.” It’s one of the cut-throat examples of everyday life and evolution. Out with the old and in with the new and the new is looking to put the old guys a lot closer to retirement.
Becoming the “old-guy” on Tour might allow for Tiger Woods to gain a lot of the fans back that he lost in the wake of the multiple affairs and impending divorce from Elin Nordegren. The majority of viewers to golf are in Tiger’s age-range or higher, so they might understand the overwhelming fight that he might have on his hands starting in a year or two.
But rest assured, the young guys are coming. A good number of them are physical specimens that learned from Tiger’s work-habits. They are hungry, motivated, fearless and supremely talented. All of these young guys feel like they are the best and looking to prove it week in and week out.
With Tiger and Rory on top so far, this may be the first true head-to-head battle between young and old that we’ve seen in a long time in golf. Rest assured, it won’t be the last. Tiger has to know that even though he may get back to his dominant-self as the number one player in the world, the young guys are coming.