KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — The next major is eight months away. The next showdown is nine days away.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are assured of being paired next week at the Barclays for the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs. And while these playoff events are more about making money than making history, this could become meaningful down the road.
Woods never has faced a rival with this kind of potential.
He never has won at least three times in a year without being looked upon as the undisputed best player in golf.
For the first time in his quest to break Jack Nicklaus’ record in the majors, the biggest challenge for Woods is no longer overcoming a failed marriage, four knee surgeries, a tender Achilles tendon or even the fact that he’s simply getting older.
It’s another player.
McIlroy and Woods have played in the same tournament 12 times this year. McIlroy has finished ahead of Woods seven times, including wins at the Honda Classic and the PGA Championship. They tied for 40th at the Masters. McIlroy has seven top fives in those events, along with three missed cuts.
This is not about where they were at a similar stage in their careers. Woods is incomparable in that regard. McIlroy has won twice in his first 16 majors as a pro.
Woods won five majors in that span, including the career Grand Slam at age 24.
It’s about where they are now.
So dominant was McIlroy at Kiawah Island, where he had rounds of 67-66 on the weekend to win the PGA Championship by eight shots, that it’s easy to get caught up in all things Rory.
He is only 23, younger by some four months than when Woods won his second major, and he is doing things only thought possible by Woods. A record score at the U.S. Open last summer at Congressional. A record margin of victory at the PGA Championship on Sunday at Kiawah Island.
McIlroy has won two majors by a combined 16 shots.
To put that in perspective, only five majors have been won by eight shots or more in the last 35 years — three by Woods, two by McIlroy.
But let’s see how this plays out.
McIlroy is 13 years younger than Woods. They have never gone head-to-head on Sunday in a major.
Ultimately, that will be the measure.
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