Rory McIroy - The new greatest player in the World?

Three rounds into the second major championship of 2011, and Rory McIlroy is positioning himself as the new greatest player in the world.

Rory’s performance this week reminds me of Tiger’s at the 1997 Masters, dominating the field and winning by a huge margin. If you have been watching on TV, you have probably heard countless comments on how Rory had a terrible fourth round at Augusta and did not win.

Many commentators expected McIlroy to fade away, the stigma of one bad round too much for him to bear.

I’m writing this about 6 hours before he tees off. I predict that this phenomenal young champion will shoot a steady 70 and win by 8 shots.

Will he have the longevity to challenge Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors or Tiger’s 14? Let’s face it; Nobody has any idea what is going to happen. But for those of us who are fans of big-time pro golf, it should be a blast to watch.

Another great Masters

I'm sure you've heard by now that there is a new Masters champion. Charl Schwartzel, a relatively unknown player from South Africa, put together one of the greatest finishes ever, canning birdies on the last four holes to nip Adam Scott and Jason Day by 2 shots.

Even though we should have seen him coming, Schwartzel never seemed to be a factor until the end. It reminded me a lot of Mark O'Meara's victory in 1998, when O'Meara snuck up on the leaders and finished off a victory with birdies on 2 of the last 3 holes.

Tiger Woods was at times his old fantastic self, shooting a blazing 32 on the first nine, but missing two short putts on the second nine to shoot 66. Woods was alternately brilliant and mediocre before finishing 4th.

It was a terrible day for the fantastic young star Rory McIroy, who shot 43 on the final nine to go from a 4 shot lead at the beginning of the day to well down the field. I thought I saw something in Rory's face before the round; a tightness that I hadn't seen from him before.

In any case, it was another fantastic Masters and yet more reason that it is my favorite sroting event and TV show of the year.