Rory has time and talent to beat Jack

RORY McILROY looked embarrassed when told of Pádraig Harrington’s suggestion that he was capable of matching or beating Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships.

That would be asking a huge amount of any golfer, let alone a 22-year-old with one title to his credit. But should we discredit that so quickly?

There is every reason to believe that a young man blessed with such natural talent and already ranked fourth in the world can achieve such a remarkable feat.

Look at it like this. Who would have predicted in 2007 that Irish golfers would win five major championships over the following four-and-a-half years?

Harrington, Open Championship 07 and 08, US PGA Championship 08; Graeme McDowell, US Open 2010; Rory McIlroy, US Open 2011.

There are still two more majors this year and McIlroy noted on Sunday that the British Open at Royal St Georges, Sandwich next month is his priority.

Having grown up on links courses, he should feel perfectly at home there, even if the Kent venue is probably the quirkiest on the Open rota.

There will be many unpredictable bounces on its severely undulating fairways but that will be nothing new to McIlroy who, of course, will be imbued with massive confidence having dominated the field so ruthlessly at Congressional.

The US PGA is scheduled for the Atlanta Athletic Club (August 11-14) and he will surely be a short-priced favourite there given that he has finished third in each of his two appearances in the championship.

After that, McIlroy may well have around 20 more years in which to launch an assault on the Nicklaus record.

After his amazing deeds at Congressional, where he broke or equalled 12 US Open records, nobody can realistically question his amazing talent for the game.

Crucially, too, his mental capacity to cope with the demands of major championships is stronger than ever. Few, if any, could have handled themselves as well following the final round of 80 at Augusta.

Furthermore, McIlroy’s path to a host of titles may well be made all the smoother by the considerable doubt concerning Tiger Woods’ future. Even if Woods recovers from a serious knee injury, it remains to be seen if he retains the golf game and the proper mindset to get his career back to its heights. The evidence of his performances over the past year suggest that the old magic is lost and may never be rediscovered.

On top of that, Phil Mickelson may well be a fading force at the age of 41. Little has been heard of him of late while the faltering state of the American game is best demonstrated by the fact that their leading players at Congressional were the virtually unknown Kevin Chappell and Robert Garrigus, who tied for third with Lee Westwood and YE Yang two shots behind the talented young Australian runner-up Jason Day and 10 adrift of McIlroy.

There are now only three Americans in the world’s top 10, Steve Stricker is fifth behind four Europeans Luke Donald, Westwood, Martin Kaymer and McIlroy with Mickelson and Matt Kuchar, sixth and seventh respectively.

Indeed, it could well be that the biggest threats to McIlroy will come from the likes of Day and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, both now in the game’s top 10, and some emerging youngsters from the Far East led by 20-year-old Korean Noh Seung-Yul and Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa.

For now, though, McIlroy can bask in the glory of his achievement and dwell on the fortunes that will also accrue.

By the time his manager, ‘Chubby’ Chandler, is finished with all the various transactions involved, Sunday’s winner’s cheque for €1,440,000 will seem like small change!

McDowell certainly made a proud defence of his US Open title, finishing in a share of 14th and with it a cheque for $129, 517 (€91,054) thanks to two closing rounds of 69. He sounded almost relieved that his tenure of the trophy was at an end so that he could look forward instead of back in developing his career. Watch out for him at Sandwich.

These remain tough times for Pádraig Harrington, whose share of 45th place at Congressional earned him a meagre $31,264 (€21,982) although he remains 52nd in the rankings and hopeful of better things in this week’s Travelers Championship on the US Tour at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Bubba Watson defends.

Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson, both of whom showed a welcome return to form in the US Open, are in the field for the BMW International Open in Munich along with German greats of the past and present in Bernhard Langer and Kaymer.

Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie, Gareth Maybin, Damien McGrane and Paul McGinley provide the interest for Irish fans.