As Tiger Woods flails, Rory McIlroy becomes golf’s must-watch force

The contrast was most stark on the very first day of the tournament. As Tiger Woods flailed, cursed and yanked tee shotsoff the course, you just wanted the afternoon wave of tee times to arrive so you could watch Rory McIlroy play golf again.

McIlroy entered the tournament as the heavy favorite, having won his last two events and playing a level a golf that no one in the world could approach, even at their best. And we were anxious just to get him back out there, see him light up Louisville. Rory is now a player who anchors the tee sheet, regardless of who he’s playing with and at what time.

The PGA of America, in the same way the other majors and PGA Tour do, tries to divide the top stars into either the morning wave or afternoon wave of tee times. On Thursday, he was out in the afternoon draw and Tiger Woods in the morning, just 20 hours after arriving at the course and provoking a frenzied, manic scene that just doesn’t occur at a practice round. There are clusters, about three or four consecutive tee times of players who are clearly the ones that the tournament is featuring, the best in the world. And then there are the headliners, a player or two who carry the entire half of the tee sheet. It’s usual that Tiger and Phil are always split up for this reason, and why both relished the opportunity to actually play together for once this week. With Rory now around, that made it much easier.

It’s not especially complicated why you were pained watching the Tiger drudgery and eager to see Rory start playing. He’s the best player in the world and he’s more fun to watch than anyone else right now. Golf is often critiqued, and probably accurately, for being too slow and not a spectator-friendly sport, whether it’s in person or on TV. The way McIlroy plays changes that as only one or two in each generation of the game do.

He’s just 5’9, but destroys the ball off the tee. At the Open, he led the field in distance, averaging 328 yards per drive and putting every one in the center of the fairway. This week, he was second in driving distance and seventh in accuracy for a No. 1 ranking in total driving. McIlroy said before the tournament that he put on nearly 7 pounds of muscle in the last eight weeks, and he’s become noticeably ripped this year. But it’s still so fun to see this shorter, smaller player crush drives farther than everyone else, and back it up with the game to be the No. 1 player in the world and not just some fan-favorite sideshow.

The high point of his weekly display with the driver came at the 16th hole this week. It was one of the harder holes on the course, a par-4 listed at 508 yards, and playing long on a wet, soft golf course with no roll-out. Rory hit driver and 9-iron all weekend. David Feherty marveled at how clean the fairway was around Rory’s tee ball at No. 16 on Saturday. No one had put their drive anywhere in range. On Sunday, they mentioned on the CBS broadcast that his drive went a good 17 yards farther than anyone else’s. Both were bombed more than 330 yards.

And yet even with that show off the tee, the most fun watching Rory this week came from all the darts stuck right on top of the flagsticks. The PGA of America is not beholden to protecting par like the USGA. They’re fine with birdies and aren’t worried about the best in the world carving up a course, damaging the club members’ or their organization’s egos. It’s not a slog, players make birdies and everyone has fun watching. It’s what made both weekend rounds the best and second-best days of major championship golf this year -- golf didn’t seem like slow sport on TV because the birdies and leaderboard movement kept coming in waves. The soft course played a part in this too, as players could stuff their approach shots close and expect the ball to stick. This is where Rory was so enjoyable to watch, all four rounds.

That first drive on the 16th went to a different part of the fairway no one else had visited, but it was the 9-iron from 171 yards to 18 inches that was the kind of shot Rory hit that made you just start giggling on your couch (via Kyle Porter/EyeOnGolf).

On Sunday, the astonishing approach that prompted a text message from a friend that just said “Jesus” was a 281-yard 3-wood onto the 10th green. This was less a dart and more a rocket up the chute. It’s a par-5 that no one was reaching in two, but Rory, with a nice friendly roll, somehow put his ball from 281-yards out to just 7 feet from the cup. McIlroy had just watched Rickie Fowler make birdie up on the green and had gone down three shots to start the back nine. That 3-wood set up an eagle to promptly cut it to one. It’s the one shot that entirely changed the dynamic of the back nine, and how the tournament would proceed into the darkness (via The Big Lead):

Rory hit a 5-iron last month at The Open which I found so perfect that it was all I wanted to write about when the tournament was over. This “approach shot,” if that’s even what you call it from 281 yards, was better.

It’s this game that makes you eager for Rory to get to the first tee, has you laughing on your couch, and compels a collective viewing with shots that provoke a text message to a friend expressing incredulous awe.

Tiger Woods will always be the top draw at a tournament, regardless of how old or ineffective a golfer he is. Wednesday’s bizarre scene surrounding his empty space in a parking lot and surreal crowds just watching him walk to a driving range to hit practice balls reinforced that in the most emphatic way. But we’re watching Tiger now to see if he can stay healthy, or if he goes for his back. We’re watching to see if he can hold it together, or when it’s going to come apart. We’re waiting for the disgusted club slam and f-bombs. Wednesday was exciting to have him on the grounds, but Thursday, when it counted, it was rough and ugly and that’s exactly what we expected. We’re watching because it’s Tiger Woods and (for most) he’s captivating, not because it’s fun.

It’s so facile and easy to say Rory is the next Tiger. We’re always comparing, sorting and ranking a young superstar’s place, especially in golf. We have no idea where Rory will end up or whether he’ll become anything like Tiger. Right now, he’s just the singular player you want to watch. That was clear right away on Thursday, as Tiger trudged through his round on the way to a middling missed cut and had to wait around for the afternoon to see Rory start playing golf again. His play over the following four days in Louisville, capped by a Sunday charge back at Fowler and Phil Mickelson, resulted in the best major championship of the year.