Rory McIlroy continues to be compared to Tiger Woods following his PGA Championship success last weekend – but can he continue those parallels in 2013?
McIlroy’s victory at Kiawah Island meant that he equalled Woods through being a two-time major winner by the age of 23 following his US Open triumph last year.
Meanwhile, he played the final round of the major in a red shirt, a la Woods, and also roared away over the closing 18 holes in a way Woods did regularly in his younger years.
Although representing Europe at the Ryder Cup is McIlroy’s next big golf engagement, he will already be looking ahead to 2013 to see where he can increase his major haul.
It was at age 24 when Woods first began to take golf by the scruff of the neck and show supreme dominance.
The year in question was 2000, when Woods followed up on finishing fifth at the Masters by winning four majors on the bounce, including the US Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship in the same year.
McIlroy is 100/1 with
Ladbrokes to win three majors in 2013, when he will also be 24, and given that his PGA Championship victory has seen him return to the top of the world rankings, a dominance of the majors would emulate Woods in this way too.
It is 10/1 that McIlroy makes it two major wins in the succession and wins the Masters, while 12/1 is the price that he triumphs in next year’s US Open.
For this year, the Northern Irishman can be backed at 4/5 to remain world number one until the end of 2012.
Punters believing that McIlroy is due a fall from grace may prefer to take the 4/9 that he fails to win a single major next year, while the 2/1 may be popular that he wins a single major in a calendar year for the third year in succession.
