Fire and Hire Golf Without Tiger

He's every bit as watchable as Tiger.

As you know, Sunday was Father's Day - the one day men can watch whatever they want on television. Based on ratings from Rory McIlroy's genuinely impressive run at a U.S. Open title, what men wanted to watch wasn't golf.

The final-round ratings were down 26% from the 2010 U.S. Open, in which Graeme McDowell beat Gregory Havret by one stroke and Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods finished tied for fourth.

McIlroy's story was pretty compelling - humble and talented young guy who collapsed like a Jenga set under the pressure at the 2011 Master's, then rallied his mind and his game to dominate at the Open. Tiger Woods never had to show that kind of mental mettle because he's really never been an underdog. And still, not as many viewers wanted to see Rory on Sunday as watched the final round last year.

McIlroy isn't so much the anti-Tiger as he is a nice alternative. He has mostly dominated the field this year, leading in 7/8 rounds at the two majors, something that is every bit on the old Tiger's level. Unlike Tiger, however, he isn't a robot during interviews who shows contempt for anyone who would dare ask him a question. Yet none of that was enough to stop the ratings plunge, so maybe golf in the U.S. can't be very popular without a golfer from the U.S doing well in a major.

The HR Department normally doesn't watch golf at all, but McIlroy was compelling enough that we tuned in on Sunday. It's a shame that more people didn't do the same thing, because they missed a nice golf moment that included a nice Father's Day moment (McIlroy hugged it out with his Dad after he won). Hopefully Rory or someone else will continue to play well enough that golf can recover from its Tiger obsession.