Rory McIlroy may hit the ball farther than Tiger Woods ever did, but he also has the short game that reminds golf watchers of the injured former No. 1.
Rory McIlroy’s power, amazing wedge shot draw Tiger Woods comparisons at BMW Championship
Rory McIlroy’s pitch shot from the rough down the stretch of his opening round at the BMW Championship reminds Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner of (who else?) Tiger Woods.
Jamie Squire
McIlroy, ahead by two shots after 13 holes into the opening round of the BMW Championship on Thursday, lost his approach shot to the par-4 fifth into thick, juicy rough beside a green-side bunker and well below the green. With the ball above his feet, the massive sand trap yawning to his left, and choked way down almost onto the shaft of his wedge, the four-time major champion hit a full pitch shot from 70 feet to the fringe with an underhanded release and watched it kick toward the pin.
A delicate eight-foot par putt followed and McIlroy was on to the sixth hole, his 15th of the day, with his lead intact for the moment and the required Woods comparison on the way.
“That’s the kind of stuff we saw from Tiger when he was at his best,” Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner said after McIlroy’s spectacular up and down. “Not only the dominant length but the magic around the greens.”
About his prodigious distance off the tee, fellow PGA Tour pro Erik Compton was compelled to play the “Rory’s better than Tiger” card. Compton, according to Golf Channel’s Randall Mell, had the perspective to make the correlation, having played a practice round with Woods in 2000, when Tiger was Tiger, and on Tuesday with the Heir Apparent, whose going yard and 370-yard 3-wood are already legendary.
Rory is a lot longer than Tiger ever was. -PGA Tour pro Erik Compton
“What I saw today was very comparable to what I saw playing with Tiger in 2000, except Rory has more power,” Compton told Mell. “Rory is a lot longer than Tiger ever was. The biggest difference is Rory hits his driver better. I have never seen anybody with that kind of power and control, period.”
So there you have it -- today’s Rory vs. Tiger moment.
McIlroy, by the way, had a few more errant shots on his way to a 3-under 67 after finding seven of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens in regulation. With back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8, he was unable to duplicate the wizardry he exhibited on the Tiger-defining fifth, but needing just 27 putts had him in a three-way tie for the lead at 3-under when inclement weather forced suspension of play for the day.
Here are the scores from Thursday, with 9 players still to finish up a hole or two Friday:
| Place | Player | Score | Thru |
| T1 | Gary Woodland | -3 | F |
| T1 | Jordan Spieth | -3 | F |
| T1 | Rory McIlroy | -3 | F |
| T4 | Billy Horschel | -2 | F |
| T4 | Martin Kaymer | -2 | F |
| T4 | Russell Henley | -2 | F |
| T4 | Kevin Chappell | -2 | F |
| T4 | Chesson Hadley | -2 | F |
| T4 | Matt Every | -2 | F |
| T4 | Graham DeLaet | -2 | F |
| T4 | Sergio Garcia | -2 | F |
| T4 | Henrik Stenson | -2 | 17 |
| T13 | Hideki Matsuyama | -1 | F |
| T13 | Justin Rose | -1 | F |
| T13 | K.J. Choi | -1 | F |
| T13 | Erik Compton | -1 | F |
| T13 | Chris Stroud | -1 | F |
| T13 | Ryan Palmer | -1 | F |
| T13 | Charles Howell III | -1 | F |
| T13 | Camilo Villegas | -1 | 17 |
| T13 | Jerry Kelly | -1 | 16 |
| T22 | Ernie Els | E | F |
| T22 | Jim Furyk | E | F |
| T22 | Jason Day | E | F |
| T22 | Phil Mickelson | E | F |
| T22 | Seung-yul Noh | E | F |
| T22 | Bubba Watson | E | F |
| T22 | Cameron Tringale | E | F |
| T29 | George McNeill | 1 | F |
| T29 | Brian Stuard | 1 | F |
| T29 | J.B. Holmes | 1 | F |
| T29 | Harris English | 1 | F |
| T29 | Keegan Bradley | 1 | F |
| T29 | Stuart Appleby | 1 | F |
| T29 | Chris Kirk | 1 | F |
| T29 | Adam Scott | 1 | F |
| T29 | Angel Cabrera | 1 | F |
| T29 | Rickie Fowler | 1 | F |
| T29 | Zach Johnson | 1 | F |
| T29 | Matt Kuchar | 1 | F |
| T29 | Tim Clark | 1 | 17 |
| T29 | William McGirt | 1 | 17 |
| T29 | Morgan Hoffmann | 1 | 16 |
| T29 | Ben Crane | 1 | 16 |
| T45 | Steven Bowditch | 2 | F |
| T45 | Charley Hoffman | 2 | F |
| T45 | Jimmy Walker | 2 | F |
| T45 | Bill Haas | 2 | F |
| T45 | Charl Schwartzel | 2 | 17 |
| T50 | Webb Simpson | 3 | F |
| T50 | Carl Pettersson | 3 | F |
| T50 | Matt Jones | 3 | F |
| T50 | Freddie Jacobson | 3 | F |
| T50 | Brian Harman | 3 | F |
| T50 | Brendon Todd | 3 | F |
| T50 | Geoff Ogilvy | 3 | F |
| T50 | John Senden | 3 | F |
| T50 | Graeme McDowell | 3 | 17 |
| T59 | Marc Leishman | 4 | F |
| T59 | Kevin Na | 4 | F |
| T59 | Jason Bohn | 4 | F |
| T59 | Russell Knox | 4 | F |
| T59 | Kevin Stadler | 4 | F |
| T64 | Hunter Mahan | 5 | F |
| T64 | Daniel Summerhays | 5 | F |
| T64 | Will MacKenzie | 5 | F |
| T64 | Kevin Streelman | 5 | F |
| 68 | Patrick Reed | 7 | F |
| 69 | Ryan Moore | 10 | F |
See More:
