Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy

06/09/2012

So, you think Rory McIlroy is the next Tiger Woods? Not so fast folks. Rory just missed three straight cuts on the PGA Tour. Tiger has missed six cuts in fourteen years. Tiger missed the cut at the 2006 U.S. Open after being off for nine weeks and he missed the 2009 British Open after the debacle he went through with the press and the public over his personal life.

Here is an amazing statistic for you to ponder; Tiger is the all-time leader in consecutive cuts made with 142. The closest to that number is Byron Nelson over sixty years ago with 113. Ironically, Tiger's streak ended at Byron's tournament in Dallas in 2005.

Consistency is the most important tangible in golf. To me, this record of 142 straight is Tiger's greatest achievement. Please do not take this as a knock on Rory. I love this guy. What a wonderful swing and a terrific game he has! But, do not put him in that "the next Tiger Woods" category, yet.

Another thing I would like to mention is the talk among viewers and sportscasters that tour players are no longer intimidated by Tiger. His win at the Jack Nicklaus Memorial showed old signs of intimidation at the end. Rickie Fowler, winner a couple of weeks earlier and on the leader board at the Memorial came into the final round paired with Tiger. Instead of winning another tournament, Fowler shot 84 while Tiger surged ahead to victory with a 67.

Then, of course there is the most important part of this equation; you can not be the next Tiger Woods until the current Tiger Woods is finished. Tiger is far from finished. He may be just getting started on a second run. We will know much more about him this next week at the U.S. Open.

Stay tuned.....