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Sep 13, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Rory McIlroy smiles on the eighteenth green during the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Colin Montgomerie has never endured himself to American golf fans anyway, but last week the 51 year-old British golfing icon told the media that Rory McIlroy is playing at a higher level now, than Tiger Woods ever achieved. I’ll have to admit, the 25 year-old Ulsterman had a great 2014 season, and deserves every award he has won since the end of the season, but come on, Monty….”better than Tiger ever was?

In a story Golf.com released on December 16th, Monty said now that Rory is perched at the top of the World Golf Rankings, he is set to chase down the Career Slam at Augusta this year, and should be the betting favorite at all the major championships in 2015.

"“I’m sure it’s a 100-1 shot, but still it’s worth a punt,” he said. “If I was a gambler, which I’m not, I’d put money on that. He’s that dominant, and that good.”"

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I’m not sure what Monty has been smoking, but Tiger Woods has 106 Professional Golf wins on his résumé. Seventy-nine on the PGA Tour, and 40 on the European Tour. Rory has 15 career wins, with nine on the PGA Tour, and nine on the European Tour.

I’m not great at math, but Rory needs 91 more wins somewhere in the world before he reaches the rarefied air that Tiger breathes.

In case you did the math here, and find out the numbers don’t add up, a player who is active on both the PGA and European Tours, gets credit on both tours for a major and WGC win. That’s how Rory can have 15 total wins, and his tour totals add up to 18 wins.

Jul 11, 2013; Omaha, NE, USA; Colin Montgomerie during the first round at the 2013 U.S. Senior Open at Omaha Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Dave Weaver-USA TODAY Sports

We can take this thing a step further. If you add Colin Montgomerie’s 40 professional wins to Rory McIlroy’s 15 wins, together, they still need 51 wins to breathe that Tiger Woods air.

"I question Rory McIlroy’s Heart!"

If you watched the highly publicized 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, you saw the reason Rory may never reach the pinnacle of golf where Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods live.

During the first two rounds, both Tiger and Rory played together, and both were struggling. Both were having trouble finding fairways, and both were unable to get putts to drop.

The devil they say is in the details.

Rory gave up, and was ready to put his new clubs in the car, and go home, Tiger however, continued to fight. Had Tiger not made a rules violations by removing a tee-shot from a spot designated as a fairway bunker, he would have made the cut.

He incurred a two-shot penalty, and missed the cut by one shot.

Love him, or hate him, when Tiger is playing golf in competition, he is all business. He is the ultimate grinder and fights until he gets into the scorer’s tent. Rory is not the same counter-puncher and does not have the heart of Tiger Woods. I question Rory’s heart!

Monty continued to put more of his foot into his mouth when he speculated that Rory may win six majors in a row by the end of the 2015 season.

"Montgomerie believes that McIlroy deserves to be the betting favorite for the Masters and he even went one step further, claiming that a clean sweep of the 2015 majors – meaning an unprecedented six wins in a row for McIlroy – isn’t exactly far-fetched."

Tiger Woods was 25 years old when he went to Augusta and completed the “Tiger Slam,” winning the 2001 Masters for his fourth consecutive major, and the sixth of his career.

Rory can complete the career slam and get to five majors with a win at Augusta this spring, but he turns 26 in May, and will not be able to win that sixth major while age 25. He will not be able to win a fourth major in a row while he is 25 as well.

While Rory’s “hat trick” in 2014 was impressive when he won the Open Championship, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and PGA Championship in consecutive outings , he has plenty of work to do in 2015 if he wants to cash the checks that Colin Montgomerie is writing for him.

Tiger is showing promise as the 2015 season approaches. During his outing at the Hero Challenge, we saw a Tiger Woods with a rusty short game and questionable putter, but we also saw a Tiger Woods who played without pain, and a Tiger Woods that for the first time since 2008, was able to keep his driver in the fairway.

"Aug 7, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; PGA golfer Tiger Woods tees off the 12th hole during the first round of the 2014 PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports“Tiger Woods is going to come back into the frame,” Montgomerie told Kicca.com. “Is he going to be able to get back, not just to the levels he was, but better than that? Because that’s where Rory McIlroy’s taken the standard of golf: to one level beyond where Tiger was.”"

For Rory McIlroy to win his third consecutive major, and the fifth of his career to complete the career slam while he is 25 years old, he will need to beat a Tiger Woods who will be looking to end a six-year major drought, and win his 15th major at Augusta.

Oh!..then he will have to beat one of the strongest fields in golf that includes Bubba Watson, who will be looking for a third Green Jacket, and Jordan Spieth, who will be looking to avenge a loss to Bubba in the 2014 Masters.

Both have won tournaments since Rory lifted the Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla back in August.

Although I was impressed with Rory McIlroy in 2014, I am not ready to chisel his face on the Mount Rushmore of golf just yet. He needs some more tour wins, more majors, and needs to have more great shots featured on SportsCenter before I am ready to mention his name in the same breath with Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and oh yeah….Tiger Woods.

Nice try Monty, but we need to let Rory get to the top the hard way, with accomplishments on the golf course.

Next: Players Needing A Fast Start In 2015

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