Rory McIlroy Helps Nike Keep Golf Alive After Tiger

Rory McIlroy won the PGA Championship in dramatic fashion over the weekend, his second consecutive major title and third straight victory on golf’s top tour. The 25-year-old Northern Irishman is now the world’s top-ranked golfer and sits on the brink of dominating the sport in a way nobody has since Tiger Woods.

It’s almost impossible to write about McIlroy without those three words: since Tiger Woods. Sunday’s final round drew the highest rating for the PGA Championship since 2009, when Woods was in the running. McIlory reached his fourth major trophy the quickest of anybody since Tiger. His rise has overlapped with the decline of Woods, who missed the cut this weekend. All four of McIlroy’s major titles have come since Woods won his last, in 2008.