McIlroy Approaching History

McIlroy has beaten to his own drum all
tournament with the field trying to
follow suit.

A day after his record-setting second-round at the 2011 U.S. Open young Rory McIlroy continued his Tiger-esque performance Saturday with yet another record breaking day. McIlroy started the day at 11-under par for the tournament, running away from the field.

    He became the first player in Open history to reach 13-under at any point in the tournament Friday, passing Tiger Woods' previous mark of 12-under set in 2000 at Pebble Beach, but his double-bogey on eighteen dropped him to 11-under. The twenty-two-year-old eclipsed his own mark Saturday with his third-round of a 3-under 68 heading into Sunday's final-round bringing his tournament total to 14-under.

    McIlroy currently holds an eight-shot lead over Y.E. Yang (-6) going into Sunday, the second highest lead total after 54-holes of golf in Open history. The record belongs to none other than Woods himself coming during his '00 Open rout where he held a 10-shot lead after 54-holes, eventually winning by 15 strokes.

    Haven't we seen this before from the young man out of Northern Ireland?

    It was only two months ago that McIlroy held a four-shot lead at the Masters heading into the final-round with the coveted green jacket within his grasp. The Ireland native began to feel the pressure and hear the foot steps of golfs greats when he eventually collapsed on the back nine.

    McIlroy shot an 80 the final day of the tournament finishing 4-under and tied for 15th on golfs biggest stage. It was the biggest collapse at Augusta National since golfing great Greg Norman held a 6-shot lead on Sunday only to give way and the green jacket to another golfing great in Nick Faldo after shooting a terrible 78 the final-round.

    In the last forty years there have been seven players to hold a 5-shot lead or better in a major-championship after two rounds of golf, only to have one not cross the finish line first. Bobby Clampett led most of the 1982 British Open, but ultimately fell short in his best chance to capture a major-championship.

    While McIlroy's historic run at his first major-championship has been the talk of the tournament, and rightfully so, he hasn't been the only one the course has been kind to. Saturday's third-round at Congressional saw 26 players shoot under-par for the day, the most ever for a third-round at the U.S. Open.

    The talk around the water cooler has now become that McIlroy might the one to challenge Jack Nicklaus' all-time major-championship mark of eighteen with the recent injury to Woods and his inability to take control of his new swing.

    Golf lost their Superman almost two years ago, but this might be the fire that ignites Woods back to the top of his game and reclaiming his number one world ranking. If McIlroy wants to meet those expectations and begin a rivalry that the golf world has lacked for far too long, he will need to close the job Sunday and win his first major-championship.