U.S. Open: Tiger, DJ and a decade of champions
2011 Champion – Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy’s 2011 Congressional Country Club victory is one of the great golf comebacks in the past decade. The then 22-year-old phenom was still bleeding from his Masters meltdown when he arrived at Congressional seeking redemption. On his way to victory – with an eight-shot margin over Jason Day – he found it. The game’s freshest heartthrob set an aggregate 72-hole scoring record, beat Tiger’s 12-under scoring record and displaced Bobby Jones as the youngest ever U.S. Open champion.
Now the man with 22 worldwide championship titles, the man who holds four major titles – he’s still in pursuit of that elusive green jacket – will be a threat at Erin Hills, even if he’s still nursing that rib injury he sustained in January at the South African Open.
Sitting at No. 2 in the OWGR and 48th in FedExCup points, McIlroy brings a disciplined, powerful and vigorous game to the tee. He doesn’t miss cuts. He tends to finish inside the top 10 with boring consistency. And while that rib injury has disrupted his season and still seems to be causing him some discomfort, he’s played enough golf since returning to competition at the WGC-Mexico Championship for me to know that even though his putting is a bit soft, his game is intact.
I’m looking for McIlroy to light up the board at Erin Hills.