Luke's Out! World Swoons As IMG Algorithm Annoits Rory Top Golfer On Planet

Okay, I get that Rory McIlroy won for the fifth time in his very young pro career, held off Tiger Woods shooting 62 in the Chosen One's adopted home state and in general, is just an awesome talent who will deservedly be a huge favorite to win the Masters.

But people, this No. 1 obsession needs to be reigned in! The OWGR is an algorithm produced and developed by IMG that has more flaws than merits. Luke Donald, the poster boy for pre-seasons stories and general admiration a few weeks ago as the world No. 1, didn't become a driving range picker overnight because the numbers aligned a certain way!

Deep breaths, deep breaths…oh forget it.

Tim Dahlberg of the Associated Press:

No. 1 in the world was on the line for Rory McIlroy, but that wasn't even the biggest subplot of the day. That was owned by a player in bright red whose game finally matched the brilliance of his shirt.

Woods' 62 may not have put a scare into McIlroy, but it did put everyone on notice that he can still play golf. Doing it on Sunday after it's been so long since he's won a real tournament screamed out Woods was, indeed, back.

The only question is how much it still matters. To the crowd count, yes, and maybe even to the count always in Woods' head -- the 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus.

But there's a new attraction in golf, a curly haired 22-year-old from Northern Ireland who is just as much fun to watch as Woods in his prime and a lot more fun to be around. McIlroy's boyish charm and obvious joy for the game are in stark contrast to Woods, and he seems so approachable that one fan on the 17th tee on Saturday asked him what kind of shampoo he uses.

Alistair Tait's love letter for Golfweek.com:

Perfect is just what McIlroy has become with his Honda Classic victory.

I soon realized he had the potential to be a future World No. 1 the more I watched him in amateur golf. It soon became evident he was a class apart.

Brian Keogh reminds us that Rory becomes Irelands first World No. 1. Wait, I thought he was from…oh forget it:

Asked how it felt to be world No 1, he said: “It feels great. Knowing that I needed to go out today and play solid golf not just to win this tournament but to get to No 1 in the world and to be able to do it is very satisfying.

“I haven’t quite had a chance to let it all sink in yet but it is just a great feeling being able to stand here and win a tourament and get the bonus of going to No 1. It’s great.

“It was always a dream of mine to become the world No. 1 and the best player in the world or whatever you want to call it.

Steve DiMeglio says Rory was almost the youngest World No. 1:

So three years after McIlroy landed in America for his pro debut as a teenager with a mop of unruly hair and plenty of hype, and one week after falling short of becoming No. 1 when he lost to Hunter Mahan in the final of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, the young man from Northern Ireland achieved his lifelong dream. At 22 years, 10 months, he is the second-youngest to reach golf's summit, trailing only Woods, who was 21 years, 6 months when he became No. 1 in 1997.

"I always had putts on the putting green when I was 10 to beat Tiger Woods or to beat Phil Mickelson. But hopefully it would be great to turn that into reality at some point," McIlroy said. "They are the best two golfers of this generation, and obviously Tiger's the best by a long way. It's quite an honor just to be mentioned in the same sentence as those two guys.

"Hopefully one day I'll be able to get to the stature of those two guys."

And who says Doug Ferguson doesn't have a sense of humor…or maybe this was an editor at PGATour.com because somehow I doubt FedExCup points were on anyone's mind today, nor were they mentioned in any other versions of this story I could find:

McIlroy became the 16th player to be No. 1 since the world ranking began in 1986, and the fourth player in the last 16 months since Woods abdicated the top spot after a five-year reign. McIlroy replaced Luke Donald and became the second-youngest player to be No. 1 behind Woods, who was 21 when he first got to the top after the 1997 U.S. Open.

Additionally, McIlroy moves into the top five in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his young career, checking in at No. 4.

Brian Wacker for PGATour.com with quotes from Graeme McDowell:

The hunted has now become the hunter.

It used to be that Tiger Woods raced to the lead and forced everyone else to try to catch him. Now it's Rory McIlroy who has taken that role and with it the throne that Woods used to rule from, figuratively and literally.

"He's the best player I've ever seen tee-to-green, period," said Graeme McDowell of his fellow Northern Irishman. "I didn't have a chance to play with Tiger in the early to mid 2000s when Tiger was the man, but Rory McIlroy is the best."

More importantly, Gary Van Sickle notes that Rory won playing with less than his best game and that his short game came through under pressure, which should be depressing news for his rivals.

Rory won it with his short game. Those up-and-downs on the back nine were superb, and crucial. If he had missed the one at 14, all of the sudden the pressure would have increased and maybe he wouldn't have held on. It's a page right out of Tiger's book; make pars no matter where you hit it. Rory has had the ballstriking, but this is the best his short game has looked. If this is his new normal, then the Rory McIlroy Era is officially under way.

As for Tiger, or as reader Lloyd noted, golf's new Arnold Palmer (coming up just short after a Sunday charge), Steve Elling says Tiger summoned up "the greatest final round of his career on Sunday."

If this was a glimpse of what Woods can summon on a regular basis, then the rest of 2012 ought to be positively dizzying. Knowing he needed an eagle at the last, he nuked a 325-yard drive and hoisted a 5-iron from 205 yards to within eight feet.

This after he'd canned a 25-footer on the 17th for a birdie. It was, at long last, vintage stuff.

"It's great to have Tiger Woods back playing the kind of golf we know he can play, because he's exciting for golf," McDowell said. "Let's all be honest about that. Great to have him back on the leaderboards and we all want to win majors with him in the field.
"It's exciting to be part of golf right now."

The European Tour lists Rory's career milestones, starting with his first 40 yard drive, right up to Sunday's win.

More importantly, John Strege notes the real excitement and meaning in all of this has nothing to do with algorithsm. It's the march to Augusta and the prospect of having a youth/old horse showdown at the year's first major.

McIlroy has fallen into the habit of contending every week. In his last 12 tournaments, since a tie for 64th in the PGA Championship, he has finished in the top five or better in 11 of them, winning twice and finishing second in four of them. This is Tiger territory.

So how will it play out in the weeks ahead? This is the question that Sunday's play posed, piquing interest first in the WGC-Cadillac Championship that begins Thursday at Doral down the road in Miami and later in Augusta. Toss Phil Mickelson into the mix and the game at its highest level is as appealing as it has been perhaps since Woods was bidding for the Tiger Slam at Augusta in 2001.

The PGA Tour Productions highlight package: