2011 U.S. Open: By The Numbers
Northern Irish lad Rory McIlroy, until Sunday known primarily for what can only be described as a spectacular collapse at this year’s Masters, took home the trophy.
With his dominating performance on the green, McIlroy earned himself not only accolades and prize money, but a guarantee of career-long comparisons to that other onetime phenom, Tiger Woods.
It will take many more majors’ wins and a green jacket or two before any Tiger comparisons will truly be merited, but in the meantime, here’s a look at some of the numbers that made this year’s Open one for the ages.
Age of McIlroy when he sank the winning putt: 22
Age of all-time youngest winner: 21 (Bobby Jones)
Years elapsed between the wins: 88
Age of Woods upon winning his first major: 21
Number of majors won by Woods: 14
Number of most majors won by one player: 18 (Jack Nicklaus)
McIlroy’s portion of the 2011 Open’s purse: $1.44 million
Woods’ 2010 net earnings as listed by Forbes: $105 million
McIlroy’s record-setting number of strokes under par for the tournament: 16
Previous record: 12 (Woods)
McIlroy’s record-setting number of total strokes: 268
Previous record: 272 (tie: Nicklaus, Woods, Lee Janzen, Jim Furyk)
Number of seersucker blazers with mismatched pink tie worn by ESPN’s Rick Reilly: 1
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