win on Sunday with a 16-under-par, eight-shot victory at the U.S. Open in Bethesda, Md. on Sunday.
The high-profile victory has ignited speculation that the 22-year-old could become the next billion-dollar athlete.
and Titleist. He also enjoys an endorsement from the sports brand of
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Tiger v
Phil? Make that Rory v Jason.
That's the future
Jason Day aspires to after he chased home
Rory McIlroy in a US Open that confirms golf's new generation has arrived.
The 22-year-old McIlroy turned in a stunning performance at Congressional, shooting 65 66 68 69 for a 16-under-par total, winning by eight shots from Day.
But 23-year-old Day continues to capture his own attention. It was the Queenslander's second straight runner-up finish in a major - his third top 10 in the last three majors - and his fifth top 10 from his past six world starts.
Day ticked off another of his ambitions by jumping into the top 10 in the world rankings (he is No.9,
Northern Ireland's McIlroy the new No.4) and hopes the two can battle it out for the top spot and majors for years to come.
"I'd love it if our rivalry was like the Tiger (Woods) Phil (
Mickelson) one and I think that would be great for golf," Day said.
"We're good mates and it would be friendly, but people love those things.
"Hopefully Rory and I have many more years taking each other on down the stretch in big tournaments."
With wet conditions playing a part, Day's eight-under par total on debut would have been good enough to win or tie every other US Open bar
Tiger Woods's 15-shot victory at
Pebble Beach in 2000.
He shot a blistering equal tournament low six-under 65 on Saturday and backed it up with a 68 on Sunday.
Both rounds were bogey-free; in fact he played the last 45 holes without a blemish.
The boy from Beaudesert scrambled like a madman after hitting only 48 per cent of fairways (just 39 per cent over the weekend).
His recoveries and clutch putting showed nerves of steel, and it seemed the harder things got, the better he performed.
If you had told Day on Thursday that he was going to shoot eight-under and still lose by eight, his reaction would have been: "You're definitely nuts. I was thinking that maybe four-under was going to win it. It's just phenomenal.
"He (McIlroy) lapped the field. And for such a young age, how mature he is."
Day said watching his mate win a major before him was a little gut-wrenching, but it also gave him more confidence in his own quest to win one.
"It might take a little bit of time. I don't want to be too cocky because I know how hard it is to contend in majors, let alone win.
"But I am confident I have the skills to do it."
McIlroy, who first met Day when they played a practice round together in Melbourne as teenagers believes Day's time will no doubt come soon enough.
"Jason has played fantastically the last three majors," he said.
"I said to him on the 18th green during the prize ceremony that he's very close. I'm sure one day that he'll break through."
Former US PGA winner and Australian tour chairman
Wayne Grady is one who believes the young pair could match the rivalry between Woods and Mickelson.
"At a time when Tiger's fallen off the perch you've got a couple of young kids coming along who are so exciting to watch," he told the Queensland Times.
"The way they play, how confident they are... the future is looking good.
"I just read the other day that everyone is crying for a new
Greg Norman. Well hopefully Jason can fill that role and keep going."
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'Rory McIlroy makes us think, "There's the real thing" '
Rory McIlroy poses for photographers with his US Open trophy. Photograph: Matt Slocum/AP
The United States media has lauded
Rory McIlroy following the Northern Irishman's emphatic
US Open success at Congressional.
The 22-year-old posted a final round of 69 to wrap up an eight-shot success with a record low score for the tournament of 16-under par. The achievement is all the more remarkable given the manner in which McIlroy failed to hold on to a four-shot lead on the final day of the US Masters at Augusta only two months ago.
"Authenticity speaks for itself or not at all. Rory McIlroy seems to have it, both in his
golf swing and in his face," said the Washington Post. "From his understated gestures to his cocky-modest smile, from his twirl of the club as a perfect shot hangs in mid-flight to the image Sunday evening of his huge hug with his father beside the 18th green at Congressional Country Club, he makes us think, 'There's the real thing.' "
The New York Times, meanwhile, praised the "killer instinct" he displayed in ruthlessly closing out his victory.
It read: "During the first three days of the 111th United States Open, Rory McIlroy moved through the cheering galleries with a boyish smile and the occasional laugh, a young man playing near-flawless golf and enjoying the walk on the lush grounds of Congressional Country Club.
"On Sunday, however, the 22-year-old McIlroy made his way to the first tee with a newly honed stoicism. The crowd was already in a party mood, anticipating history. McIlroy played it cool. He knew a thing or two about golf history, especially recent results in major championships, and on Sunday he used that knowledge to fashion a killer's instinct that rewrote the narrative of championship golf."
In a similar vein The Los Angeles Times said: "It took less than an hour for Rory McIlroy to effectively bury any demons from Augusta National. An eight-foot birdie at Congressional Country Club's opening hole. Three holes later, another from three feet away. No one would be allowed a chance to threaten."
USA Today put a different slant on a success which will move him up to No4 in the world rankings, recounting a meeting he had with his manager Andrew Chandler in the wake of his Masters collapse.
"Ten days after his distressing meltdown in the final round of this year's Masters, Rory McIlroy met with his agent, 'Chubby' Chandler, in Belfast to talk all things golf. Shortly into the conversation, Chandler knew his young client wasn't suffering from any psychological toll owing to his epic setback in the Masters, where he imploded with a final-round 80 that erased a four-shot, 54-hole lead and left McIlroy doubled over in despair.
"He looked at me and said: 'Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss is about, Chub, because at the end of the day it's just a golf tournament and I'm 21,' Chandler said. "He lost the green jacket but he didn't lose perspective. He just didn't understand all the fuss afterwards.'
"The fresh-faced youngster with unruly curly hair now might have a hard time comprehending a different sort of ruckus following his four-day destruction of Congressional Country Club in the US Open on Sunday. Already a popular lad the world over, McIlroy's star exploded 10 miles north of the nation's capital in the 111th edition of the US Open."
Even the Wall Street Journal paid tribute to McIlroy's achievement, describing his victory as "a beautiful blowout, not a poetic payback".
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Yanks down and out
BETHESDA (Maryland): While the European Tour celebrated its fifth successive major champion after Rory McIlroy’s astonishing eight-shot victory at the US Open, American golf grappled with an unprecedented title drought.
For the first time since the Masters was launched in 1934, US players have failed to triumph in five consecutive majors. Not since 1994 has a year gone by without an American holding at least one of the four Grand Slam crowns.
Northern Irishman McIlroy coasted to victory in record-breaking style at Congressional Country Club on Sunday to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Graeme McDowell, who clinched last year’s US Open at Pebble Beach.
Tiger Mark II: Tiger Woods (left) watching his tee shot along with Rory McIlroy on the first hole at the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament in Thousand Oaks, California in December last year. The manner in which McIlroy won the US Open on Sunday made comparisons with Woods inevitable. — AP
Following McDowell’s major breakthrough, South African Louis Oosthuizen won the 2010 British Open, Germany’s Martin Kaymer landed the 2010 PGA Championship and South African Charl Schwartzel claimed his first major at the Masters in April.
European players also rule the roost at the top of the world rankings where they occupy the leading four spots for the first time in nearly 20 years.
With former world number one Tiger Woods a shadow of the dominant player he once was due to assorted injuries, loss of form and the break-up of his marriage, things appear to look bleak for Americans at the pinnacle of the game.
However, as 1997 PGA champion and next year’s US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III pointed out after tying for 11th at Congressional, success in golf often comes and goes in cycles.
“Everything goes in streaks,” the 47-year-old American said after posting successive scores of one-under-par 70 over the weekend at the US Open.
“We might be talking about how four Americans win the next four (majors).”
Love also felt that the recent increase in European players competing on the US circuit had to be taken into account.
“They’re half of our (PGA) Tour now,” he said. “I think you can give Seve (Ballesteros) a lot of credit, Seve and Bernhard Langer, for letting the Europeans realise that they can work hard, come over here and compete with the Americans.
Spaniard Ballesteros and German Langer were part of the heavyweight major-winning European quintet which emerged in the late 1970s and also included Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam.
“The world is a smaller place, so I think we’re going to have to get used to it,” added Love. “Look at the leaderboard every week on Tour. It’s a third US and a third European and a third Asian or South African or Australian guys.”
Kaymer, who won his maiden major title in last year’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, felt the slide of Woods since the end of 2009 had been a significant factor.
“I think that the Americans struggle a little bit, since Tiger has been – how do you say? – a little down,” the 26-year-old German said. “Since then nothing has really happened.
“We (European golfers) have just become so much stronger. I think it started with Padraig Harrington at the British Open and the PGA. He gave us at least the belief that we can win here in America as well.”
Irishman Harrington clinched the British Open in 2007 and 2008, plus the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
McDowell, who tied for 14th at the US Open on Sunday, agreed with Kaymer.
“It’s just watching your colleagues and friends and guys you play with week-in and week-out doing things like that which gives people the belief,” the 31-year-old Northern Irishman said.
“There’s no doubt my win last year has given Rory the belief to do it, and Charl and Louis and all of the above.”
Woods won the most recent of his 14 major titles at the 2008 US Open, although fellow Americans Lucas Glover (2009 US Open), Stewart Cink (2009 British Open) and Phil Mickelson (2010 Masters) have since enjoyed success. — Reuters
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