Marathon in Munich

Pablo Larrazabal beat fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia at the fifth play-off hole to clinch his second European Tour title on a marathon final Sunday in Munich.

The 28-year-old’s victory in the BMW International Open came only 20 days after he lost at the sixth hole of sudden death in an Open Championship qualifier at Sunningdale. Now Larrazabal will be going to Sandwich after all – and so will Garcia, whose runner-up finish earned him the other spot up for grabs off a ‘current form’ mini money list.

It is great to see Garcia back to somewhere near his old form. After two years in which he has gone from second in the Official World Golf Ranking to outside the top 80, Garcia began his revival by coming seventh in the US Open Championship a week ago.

Things were getting so bad that he took a self-enforced three-month break from golf last year only returning after an invite from Colin Montgomerie to be a vice-captain at Celtic Manor for the Ryder Cup.
 
But, after making a birdie on the 72nd to force extra holes, he lost when he three-putted the same green an hour later. The troublesome flat-stick let him down once again and many feel it’s the reason why Sergio, for all of his God-given talent, will never win a big one.

It would have been his first success since November 2008 but, for Larrazabal, victory was sweet as he has to go back five months for his previous win at the Open de France.

If your name is Rory McIlroy then June 2011 just keeps getting better and better. Taking a hugely well-deserved three-week break following the exertions of Congressional, he moved up to a career-high third in the world rankings without even hitting a shot.

The Northern Irishman landed the US Open title last weekend and will overtake Martin Kaymer after the German failed to finish in the top eight of the BMW International Open.

McIlroy, is due to return to action at the Open Championship at Sandwich, and now only has Luke Donald and Lee Westwood above him in the ratings. However, his ranking could change before then with Kaymer playing this week’s French Open and both Donald and Westwood entered for the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart near Inverness starting on Thursday week.

It has been a massive week or so for Rory, and taking a few weeks off to reassess and celebrate is definitely what the doctor ordered. Since closing out his win, commentators and journalists around the world have been hailing ‘the next Tiger’ or speculating on how many records the young man will break in the future.

Despite his astonishing performance at such a tender age, I doubt whether McIlroy will surpass the golfing achievements of Woods. The 14-time major champion was a relentless winning machine. In contrast, the man from Holywood has different qualities and it is worth remembering that this US Open victory is only his third professional win.

Maybe a decade down the line McIlroy will have a cabinet full of major trophies. If that happens, then we can start thinking about him eclipsing Woods and Nicklaus. Right now, we should just delight in his US Open win.
 
When the world’s best assemble for the Open, it will be McIlroy who will be the main attraction – and that will be the case even if Woods returns from his latest injury setback.

It is hard not to get carried away by what we have witnessed over the last few days. The one thing I am sure of is that McIlroy is not the next Tiger Woods.

He is Rory McIlroy; the record-breaking US Open champion, a global superstar and just what golf needs.