Putting Rory's Performance Into Words

Amazing.  Historic.  Monumental.  Inspiring.  Surreal.  Magical.  Perfect.

You could use any number of words to describe Rory McIlroy's 2011 U.S. Open performance.  What we witnessed this weekend was absolutely incredible.  A 22 year-old kid from Northern Ireland, who we last saw complete one of the most heart-wrenching collapses in golf history in this year's Masters, literally making the rest of the U.S. Open look like they didn't belong.  From his first tee shot on Thursday to his final tap-in putt on the 18th hole Sunday, Rory owned every piece of the U.S. Open.  When it was all said and done Sunday, he owned just about every record the Open had to offer.

Over the years, we've come to expect the U.S. Open to make the World's golfing stars look like every day 10 handicappers.  The long rough, the lightning fast greens, and the ridiculously hard pin placements have all become staples of the second major championship of the year.  When you look at the history of the tournament, it's not unforeseen that the winner of the U.S. Open actually finish even par or worse, as was the case last year with Graeme McDowell winning the tournament at level par.  When Tiger Woods won his last U.S. Open in a playoff in 2008, he was the only player under par (along with Rocco Mediate, who lost to Tiger in the 18-hole playoff).  So, for McIlroy to do what he did this weekend was very impressive.  But, was the course too easy?

After the final round on Sunday, there were 22 players at even par or better in this year's Open.  To put this into perspective, between the years of 2003 and 2010, there were a combined 24 players at even par or better.  That seems a little strange, given the reputation of this tournament as being the "hardest test in golf."  Without McIlroy's superhuman-like performance this weekend, the competition would've been very interesting, with five players between -5 and -6.  The drama would've been incredible.  As it turned out, however, the only drama left was how low Rory's total score would go.

But should the history of the tournament, the perception of the difficulty, and the ease at which players were able to score low this week take away from what Rory McIlroy accomplished?  I have only two words to answer that question:

Absolutely not!

After falling flat on his face with a final round 80 at Augusta in April, it would've been very easy for McIlroy to cower in a corner for months.  He had the Masters won, all he needed to do was just take it easy and play safe, and he would have himself a green jacket.  But his back nine implosion left many of us to wonder if he would have the heart to finish off a major championship.  In some cases, some of us wondered if he'd ever get another shot at one.  After that disappointing finish, the kid couldn't have been more gracious.  He showed maturity beyond his years, telling reporters afterward that he'd take the positives from the weekend and learn from the negatives in order to better himself and his game.  It sounded like the right thing to say, and in many cases, something others have said, but never really, truly followed up on it.

Rory McIlroy did follow up on it.  He stepped onto the first tee at Congressional Country Club on Thursday, and went on to birdie the first hole, getting himself right back on the horse, so to speak.  He never looked back.  I heard one analogy that I thought was an interesting take, but one that seemed a little strange.  One of the radio announcers for ESPN's coverage of the event likened McIlroy's performance to Jason Vorhees of "Friday the 13th" fame.  To paraphrase, he said that McIlroy had already killed all of the campers after the first 35 holes of the tournament.  His bogey on the 36th hole was just him losing his weapon, but he'd already distanced himself from his nearest competitor that there now weren't anymore campers to kill once he got the weapon back.  Strange way of putting it, but I get it.

One of McIlroy's biggest accomplishments on Sunday was the fact that, for the time being, people are now saying "Tiger who?".  His performance this week shattered the 2000 performance of Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open.  He put so much distance between himself and Tiger's Open performance that year at Pebble Beach that people may not even reference that amazing display of golf.  What Tiger did was awesome.  What McIlroy did was god-like.

From a personal point of view, I'm amazed with this kid.  He has easily the prettiest swing in all of golf, even prettier than Tiger's swing when it was at it's most perfect point.  His personality is exactly what golf needs.  I'm really not one to talk, because when I miss shots, I get upset, sometimes even vocally, but with what happened at Augusta in April, you wouldn't have faulted him for throwing a club or dropping a curse.  But...he didn't.  He failed with such class and dignity that it made everyone take notice.  It's hard not to like a guy like that.  He's humble and honest, both refreshing characteristics to see from someone in that kind of spotlight.  Most importantly though, the kid has fun!  You can see it in his eyes and in his body language.  He just enjoys playing the game of golf, and he's damn good at it.

So, to put a little bow on this whole amazing display, I think we're all witnessing the start of something brilliant.  We just witnessed the golf coming-out party of one of the best, if not the best, young player in the game.  His talent is only overshadowed by his potential...both of which are huge!  I'm hoping we get to see this kid more and more, because he's exactly what golf needs right now!

Biggest Chokes In Sports History

Coming off an NBA Finals where the "best player in the game" decided to phone it in for a few games, I started thinking about the biggest choking performances I've seen in sports.  I didn't think a whole lot about it, until I started watching a little bit of coverage of the U.S. Open, seeing the first round leader's name on the leader board.  Twenty-two year old Rory McIlroy shot a six under par 65 to open the first round of the 2011 U.S. Open.  Outstanding performance for anyone, but even more so for McIlroy, coming off what could've been considered a major choke in this year's Masters.  So, what are some of the other "chokes" in sports, either specific plays, matches, games, or series?

Given McIlroy's age (22) and virtual inexperience at the top of the leader board in major championships, it might be hard to actually consider his 2011 Masters fourth round performance a "choke", but it does have to be put into the conversation.  However, when it comes to the Masters itself, one performance in my mind  sticks out as an even bigger collapse.  Back in 1996, Greg Norman entered the final round of the Masters up by six strokes.  After his final round on Sunday, he finished a total of five shots behind eventual winner Nick Faldo.  For someone widely considered to be one of the better golfers of his generation, this was easily one of Norman's darkest hours, and definitely ranks up there as one of the greatest chokes in all of sports, not just golf.

Boxing saw one of it's biggest choking performances back in 1990, when Mike Tyson was knocked out for the World Heavyweight title in Tokyo to little-known James "Buster" Douglas.  For a lot of people, this was one of those events in history where, if you were old enough, knew exactly where you were when you heard the news.  Tyson was always a little off-key, but the loss to Douglas was just the beginning of the downward spiral Tyson's career would see.  Was it a choke?  Maybe.  Or, maybe Tyson just took Douglas a little too lightly.  Hard to say, but regardless, it goes down as one of the biggest upsets in sports history.

When it comes to choking in a playoff series, the most recent that comes to mind is that of the 2004 New York Yankees.  Up 3-0 in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series against the hated rival Boston Red Sox, it was considered a lock that the Yankees would end up in yet another World Series.  It had never been done before in Major League Baseball history, that a team trailing a series 3-0 had come back to win the series...until 2004.  Boston scrapped and clawed their way back, eventually winning four straight games, and moving on to the World Series, where they went on to win their first World Championship in 86 years.  Definitely an amazing performance by Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, and the rest of the Boston Red Sox...but, an equally impressive meltdown by the New York Yankees.

Sometimes, it's difficult to distinguish between a "choke" and a hard-fought comeback.  This was definitely the case in the 1993 NFL Playoffs, when the Buffalo Bills overcame a 32 point deficit, to comeback and defeat the Houston Oilers in a Wild Card playoff game.  The Oilers had looked very impressive for the first half of football, seemingly steam-rolling over the powerful Bills.  The second half, however, saw a completely different game.  The Oilers looked nothing like they had in the first half, and the Bills looked twice as hungry as they had to start the game.  So, was it a choke, or did the Bills just outplay the Oilers?  Always a tough call, but I think any time you lose a 32 point lead, there has to be some choking involved.

So...help me out everyone.  What are some of the other choking performances in sports history?  Give me your thoughts.  Let's see how many we can come up with.