There are changes on the breeze at East Lake.
They did not add an above-ground-pool out back of the Tudor clubhouse; did not take down all the Bobby Jones memorabilia inside and replace it with gewgaws from Cracker Barrel. Nothing quite that jarring.
Rather, the makeup of this week’s Tour Championship field holds the subtle reminder that time had another undefeated season.
Look who’s not teeing off in Thursday’s first round. Neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson is in the playoff finale, a first since the birth of the FedEx Cup in 2007.
How about that for a certain sign that the status is hardly quo atop golf?
Rory McIlroy, the one most likely to take over as the boyish face of the game, would not call this a full-blown changing of the guard Wednesday. Woods was injured. Mickelson just wore out over the playoff grind. They both can recover, he reminded the media.
Still, McIlroy knows how to read a calendar, sort of: “They’re just getting older. Phil’s 43 or whatever (44) and Tiger’s nearly 40 (he turns 39 in December). So they’re getting into the last few holes of their career. That’s what happens.
“It obviously gets harder as you get older. I’ll be able to tell you in 20 years how it feels.”
And Arnold Palmer just turned 85 Wednesday, so a comeback on that front is looking less and less likely.
With the two biggest draws in the game now eating their suppers at 5, wearing their pants up around their ribs and unable to play much September golf, a good deal of the responsibility for drawing a crowd falls to McIlroy.
At this Tour Championship, in Woods’ and Mickelson’s absence, McIlroy will be a gallery focal point . Certainly he’s the leader in the no-possible-Georgia-connection flight of the tournament. The winners of all four of this year’s Majors are in the field — it’s just that McIlroy himself owns half those. He has four major career titles at the age of 25. The other 28 Tour Championship players have 10 combined.
Oh, he comes with other recommendations.
Hardly taller than a garden troll, he can hit the ball beyond the horizon line.
He’s had his obligatory celebrity fling and clumsy breakup — with tennis’ Caroline Wozniacki — and seems not overly jaded by the experience.
Then there’s the on-course persona. He’s not one of the PGA Tour drones out there. McIlroy shows a little humanity on the course, emotes just enough, as if he studied both at Holywood Golf Club and Stratford-upon-Avon.
When he four-putts a green — as he did twice in last week’s BMW championship — the golfing world tilts ever so slightly off its axis. He is that brand of player.
McIlroy can win the week here at East Lake, claiming his 10th PGA Tour victory and along with it another almost farcical pile of money. It’s one of the few things he hasn’t won at this tender stage of his career — other than a certain little spring outing up the road at Augusta — and he is nothing if not goal-oriented.
He sort of likes his odds — “I only have to beat 28 other guys,” he said.
But can McIlroy go forth from here and carry golf as the singular personality and performer of his generation?
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem came onboard just as Jack Nicklaus was excusing himself. He has ridden the Tiger Woods wave through all its crests and troughs. So he is familiar with the question of whether his sport requires a single dominant player to thrive and it’s one he skirts most effectively.
“I think Tiger’s got a long shelf life in terms of being a contributor because people like watching him play regardless of the records,” Finchem said, buttressing Woods’ popularity.
“When he passes by, we will have other players, like Rory McIlroy,” the commissioner said.
And then added, “(McIlroy’s) a great ambassador for the game. He handles himself beautifully. He’s articulate. He’s a good communicator. And when he’s playing at his best, he’s phenomenal to watch, no question about it. He already seems to be to be a centerpiece if you’re a golf fan, an exciting piece.”
McIlroy possesses the kind of game that can raze a course and a field, witness his eight-stroke victories in the 2011 U.S. Open and 2012 PGA Championship.
Woods at his peak certainly shared that ability, along with a sheer presence capable of intimidating the opposition before the first shot was struck. Few so far have cast McIlroy in that light, himself included. Maybe it’s his common dimensions. Maybe it’s the accent. He just has not crushed souls out here to date.
“It would be very hard for me to be that intimidating figure who makes people nervous, I feel. But maybe people see me different. I don’t know,” McIlroy said.
He certainly seems to have the mindset to be, more than a good player, an important one.
Speaking to a breakfast gathering at East Lake Wednesday, McIlroy recounted the story about the handwritten letter Nicklaus wrote him after the breakthrough victory at the ’11 U.S. Open. Beyond Nicklaus’ congratulations, he challenged McIlroy to advance the game that would make him rich.
“It really hit home with me then,” McIlroy said.
“I think it’s important to set an example for kids. It’s important to carry yourself in the right way. Yeah, these are things I’ve had to learn over the past few years. But it’s something that I’ve tried to embrace and something that I feel just comes as part of what I do,” he said.
Another in a series of auditions for the role of golf’s future begins today at East Lake.
About the Author
