"He's some kinda player" said Masters champion Phil Mickelson talking about Irish sensation Rory McIlroy, barely out of his teens.

He's got that right.

Mickelson was commenting on the County Down native after he had burned past Mickelson in the final round on Sunday to capture his first PGA event in America.

Indeed, McIlroy will surpass Tiger Woods as easily as he surpassed him at the weekend.

Tiger failed to make the cut and McIlroy destroyed the course, especially in Sunday taking only 30 shots on the back nine.

By then Tiger was back home in Florida watching the kid on TV and seeing his own reflection at the same age I'd say.

But McIlroy can be better than Woods.

He can actually play shots that Woods could not at his age --and he handles the pressure.

No less a judge than Ernie Els said last year that the world of golf is probably looking at the next No. 1 when it sees McIlroy.

He is already the youngest since Woods to win a PGA event, the youngest player to ever make the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings and the second youngest to ever crack the top 10.

Last year he almost won the European Tour's Order of Merit last year and won the Dubai Desert Classic last year.

He is also learning to handle the pressure "I had never felt expectation up until this year," McIlroy said. "I think I got to seventh in the world at the start of the year, and I'm thinking, well, if I'm the seventh-best golfer in the world I should be going out and competing, and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, which you shouldn't.

"Sometimes you need to sit back and say, look, you're only 20, 21 years old, and you're doing pretty well, and just putting things in perspective a little bit. I was probably trying to get to that point too soon the way I was pushing and pushing, and it probably wasn't great for my game.

"After the Masters I've just tried to free it all up, relax a little bit and just go out and play. And it's obviously worked this week, and hopefully I can have that same attitude going into the rest of the season."

Spoken like a true modest champion who knows what he has to do in the most competitive sport on earth.

Expect McIlroy to go all the way tot he top and have Tiger in his rear view mirror any day now.

As he showed on Sunday he's that good.