Rory McIlroy rewrote the U.S. Open history book this week and on this Sunday at Congressional, exorcised the demons from Augusta National.
The 22-year-old Northern Irishman shot a two-under 69 on Sunday and won the U.S. Open by a staggering eight shots. He finished at 16-under 268, which set records for lowest score and lowest score in relation to par in U.S. Open history.
McIlroy reached 17-under par, which was a first at the U.S. Open. He became the youngest winner of this championship since Bobby Jones in 1923. He is the third player in U.S. Open history to post four rounds in the 60s. All totaled for the week, McIlroy broke or tied 12 U.S. Open records.
"Overall, the whole week has been incredible. I couldn't ask for much more," McIlroy said in his trophy presentation. "I know how good Tiger was in 2000 to win at Pebble."
It was a championship reminiscent of Woods 11 years ago and Woods was impressed with McIlroy. At home with leg injuries, Woods released a statement congratulating McIlroy, who became the sixth winner to go wire-to-wire without any ties and the first since Woods in 2002.
"Congrats to Rory. What a performance from start to finish," Woods said in his statement. "Enjoy the win. Well done."
Perhaps more important than any record, McIlroy overcame the horrors of the Masters. Armed with a four-shot lead heading into that Sunday, he shot a disastrous 80 and tied for 15th.
Just one major later, McIlroy went into Sunday with double his Masters lead and cruised to an easy major victory.
"Augusta was a very valuable experience for me," he said. "I knew what I needed to do today to win. I put a few different things into practice and it paid off. The whole week was special...I could not have asked for anything more... I played great for four days and couldn't be happier."
