• US Open

McIlroy earns Greg Norman comparison

ESPN staff
June 22, 2011
Geoff Ogilvy: "There's so few really class ball-strikers out here." © Getty Images
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The plaudits continue to flood in for Rory McIlroy, with the latest being he is the purest ball striker since the great Greg Norman.

McIlroy took the field apart to win his first major at the US Open. The Ulsterman produced a masterclass in driving and iron play and unlike at the Masters, where he let a four-shot lead slip away, he putted with authority.

The 22-year-old missed just 10 greens in regulation all week and memories of Norman, who won just two majors but was widely regarded as one of the finest players ever to pick up a club, in the 1980s flooded back for Geoff Ogilvy.

"He hit 62 of 72 greens at the US Open," Ogilvy said. "There's no way I could ever do that. Not too many people can do that, especially after the Masters when everyone probably would have given him the year off.

"Two months later he was playing like it never happened. Amazing. It's Greg Norman '86 type stuff; he's just clearly better than anyone else.

"There's so few really class ball-strikers out here - I know that sounds silly but real class ball-strikers like Nick Price and Greg Norman. It's Greg Norman in the mid-80s is who he is.

"He just completely outplays everyone with no fear. Some people are being aggressive and they're just cavalier. He's not cavalier."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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