RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
Good morning.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Good morning, Renee.
MONTAGNE: So this is an historic game in a couple of ways, I do believe, beginning with the score.
BRENNAN: That is so difficult to do at a U.S. Open, traditionally the toughest of the four majors each year. Only the third player in U.S. Open history to shoot four rounds in the 60s. And that all led to an eight stroke victory.
MONTAGNE: And at the Masters in early April, interestingly though, McIlroy's experience was entirely different. He lost a four-stroke lead with a final round score of 80. I mean, what did he do differently this time?
BRENNAN: And he found out he was tentative rather than free flowing. And he said he would never play defensively again. And two and a half months later we got a chance to see that.
MONTAGNE: And Tiger Woods missed this Open with injuries to his left knee and Achilles tendon. But we've already made the comparison. It's inevitable. Tiger, Rory, Rory, Tiger, how do they compare?
BRENNAN: But he's so much that Tiger is not, Renee. He's refreshing, approachable, grounded. I think that the sport of golf's been through a lot in the last year and a half with the personal and the professional downfall of Tiger Woods. And if McIlroy is the future of golf, I think the sport is in extremely good hands.
MONTAGNE: Well, yeah, speaking of the sort of person he is, Rory McIlroy went on a humanitarian mission to Haiti last week while other golfers were practicing for the Open. Makes his win even maybe that much more impressive.
BRENNAN: And he said the perspective he gained there in Haiti seeing how difficult it is there - of course, still, you know, he got a chance to meet children and talk to them and go to maternity wards and schools. He said that gave him the perspective that, my goodness, he gets to play a game for a living. Learning so much about himself at age 22. And the greatest thing about him, his Twitter picture it's now Rory McIlroy with a little girl from Haiti. And he said he wants to go back and see her again.
MONTAGNE: Christine, thanks very much.
BRENNAN: Renee, thank you.
MONTAGNE: Christine Brennan is USA Today's sports columnist. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.