Golf: The heir to Woods? Only time will tell

After four solid mornings in front of the TV, Dave Cannan offers his thoughts on the US Open and what the one-sided result might mean for the future of golf.

SO, is Rory McIlroy now, officially, the "next big thing" in golf; in world sport, in fact?

And, does it really matter if he is - or isn't? I won't be the only golf fan asking those same self-serving rhetorical questions, especially after his pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming demolition of (almost) all the world's best golfers in the US Open.

The "almost", of course, is a concession to the last "big thing" in golf, Tiger Woods, who, one assumes, bunkered down in his new gated home in Florida, crutches propped against his armchair, and watched while the final nails in his demise as the world's most dominant figure in golf were driven home in a truly breathtaking, Tiger-like manner.

But if I may be allowed to misquote Julius Caesar's old mate Mark Antony, I'd rather praise Tiger, not bury him, because without Tiger, there may not be a Rory. Just as the boy Tiger idolised Jack Nicklaus, so has Rory used Tiger as his aspirational measuring stick of greatness.

Hasn't that always been the way in golf, from the time Harry Vardon pioneered and dominated the professional game, leading the way for the great amateur Bobby Jones, who in turn inspired Ben Hogan, who then hugely influenced Nicklaus, who did the same for Tiger?To quote Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, "It's evolution, baby".

But, with Tiger staging the most publicised slide from No 1 in the game's history, causing a knock-on effect on television ratings, which drive tournament stakemoney, the game's life blood, the big question for golf was: "evolving into what?"

Well, it looks like we finally have our answer.

Since Tiger last won a major (the 2008 US Open) there have been a host of "pretenders" queuing up to dominate golf by winning a major. But, with all due respect to those very fine players, Phil Mickelson among them, none won more than one or looked to have that "X factor" which suggested they were going to intimidate their contemporaries, much less compile a Tiger-like record -14 majors, No 1 for 623 weeks etc.

Until now.

I'm not quite ready to jump on the "McIlroy Messiah" golfing bandwagon because, at 35, Tiger still has time to recover his health, composure and unparalleled will to win. From a fan's perspective, hopefully that will happen in time for a clash of the titans at the British Open next month.

But, in the interim, every golfing weekend whacker like me will surely revel in the rare greatness we saw emerge at Congressional.

Don't forget, just a couple of months ago this 22-year-old threw away his first major with a Greg Norman-like self-destruct display at Augusta when leading by four with just nine holes to go.

Who could forget that heart-wrenching shot of McIlroy, head slumped over his driver after snap hooking his tee shot into Rae's Creek on the 13th hole? Surely he was a broken young man, scarred for life? But he was not. For four days we saw a composed, relaxed, controlled and supremely gifted train-wreck survivor play the game at such a level even the harshest critic of all, Johnny Miller, described him as the greatest putter he'd "ever" seen. Ever is such a long time, especially in golf.

"Rory, Rory, Hallelujah" indeed.