Rory vs Tiger

Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio was ripping into Rory McIlroy after the British Open, saying "was Tiger doing such and such?". Well, he's comparing Rory at 22 to Tiger at 25 or 26. So I decided to do an apples to apples comparison.

Rory was born May 4, 1989. That means that as of this past weekend's British Open he has played 2 majors after turning 22 years old. Tiger was born December 30, 1975. So he turned 22 on 12/30/97. That makes the 1998 US Open Tiger's 2nd major after turning 22 years old.

Tiger played in 6 majors as an amateur:
1995 Masters - T41
1995 US Open - withdrew
1995 British Open - T68
1996 Masters - missed cut
1996 US Open - T82
1996 British Open - T22

Tiger's professional results up to and including the 1998 US Open:
1997 Masters - win
1997 US Open - T19
1997 British Open - T24
1997 PGA Championship - T29
1998 Masters - T8
1998 US Open - T18

That's 1 win, 2 top 10's, and 4 top 20's.

Rory has also played in 12 majors, but only 1 as an amateur.
2007 British Open - T42

As a professional:
2009 Masters - T20
2009 US Open - T10
2009 British Open - T47
2009 PGA Championship - T3
2010 Masters - missed cut
2010 US Open - missed cut
2010 British Open - T3
2010 PGA Championship - T3
2011 Masters - T15
2011 US Open - win
2011 British Open - T25

That's 1 win, 5 top 10's (compared to 2), and 7 top 20's (compared to 4).

I'm not saying Rory is going to be the next Tiger. But I'm also saying let's not bash the guy for not winning the British Open. Tiger didn't start on his real dominance in the majors until the 1999 US Open - T3, T7, win, 5, win, win, win, win, T12, T25, T29, win, win. That's 6 more majors that Rory has before he's "supposed" to win his second in order to "keep up" with Tiger.

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