I’m sure everyone knows about the “firing heard around the world” by now.

Tiger Woods clipped his caddie/good friend Steve Williams, with Woods stating he needs to make “changes” in his life.

Now people in the sports media are trying to interpret Woods’ rather cryptic statement and Williams’ candid response to see if there were anything more to the story.  One Yahoo! Sports blogger looked into the situation.  ESPN.com’s Bob Harig commented on what this might mean for Woods’ future.  Hell, ESPN.com has a “Tiger Tracker” for crying out loud!

All of this make me say: “who gives a damn?”

Why is everyone making such a BFD over Tiger firing his caddie?  Sure his caddie ran off with his mouth in the aftermath of Woods’ multiple extra-marital affairs.  Sure his caddie started caddying for Adam Scott while Woods bowed out of tournaments, which Woods apparently didn’t like (though he originally said he could).

Is all of this really worth flooding the sports news cycle?  It’s a golfer firing his damn caddie!  It happens.

All of this makes me realize how the NFL lockout is screwing up the sports world.  This is the time NFL talk should be dominating the air waves, not this other crap.

Congratulations to Rory McIlroy for winning the 111th U.S. Open yesterday in Washington, D.C.

Not only did the kid win in a landslide (by eight strokes), he also did so in historic fashion.  His 16-under par score was the most ever in the U.S. Open.

That was what was so amazing about McIlroy.  U.S. Opens are supposed to be extremely difficult, challenging and humbling, yet this kid made the course look like a Putt-Putt.

Having said that, let’s not crown this kid too soon.  Sure this kid was one meltdown at the Masters away from having two majors this year.  Sure this kid is also humble and loose on the course, a stark, welcoming contrast from Tiger Woods.

But there is only one Tiger.  Tiger was not only a winning machine, he turned a lot of people into casual golf fans at the very least .

Look, I am not a fan of Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.  But I’ll be honest, I didn’t give two damns about golf until Tiger won the Masters in 1997 by 1,000 strokes.  I loved the way he intimidated the hell out of the other golfers.  It seemed to be always Tiger vs. the field in every major tournament, if there is one thing I love in sports, is dominance.  It also didn’t hurt that he is not only an American, but an American of COLOR.  Let’s be honest, we were all accustomed to older white dudes (American or European) winning title after title.

While McIlroy is a special player who will win more future major tournaments, he has not captured the fascination of the average golf fan.  We are not going to be “McIlroy-ized” the same way we were “Tiger-ized” (terms courtesy of ESPN’s Mike Greenberg).  It hurts McIlroy that he is a European player, and last I checked Americans do not give a damn about Europeans in any sport.

The only thing that will change that perception of McIlroy is if he wins more – as in at least five to six more – majors.  Otherwise, he will become no better than the next Phil Mickleson.

Matt Slocum/AP

Your heart has to ache for Rory McIlroy.

There he was, sitting pretty moments before the last round at the Masters with a 4-stroke lead.  All he basically had to do was to keep an even keel and not take too many chances.

However, folks say that if you play not to lose, you do just that – lose.

Then came a triple-bogey on hole #10, followed by a bogey on #11.  The horror continued with a double-bogey on #12.  When he hit a drive into the creek on #13, his slumping posture said it all.

Calgon, take me away!!!

All of the madness led to an 8-over 80 for the round to fall to a tie for 15th, 10 strokes behind the eventual winner Charl Scwhartzel (now there’s a cool-ass golf name for ya).

This goes to show that golf is the ultimate form of witchcraft.  It will turn on you in a blink of an eye if you are not careful.  If it messes with the best in the world in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson, anyone is fair game.  Too bad it happened to a nice kid like McIlroy.

The question is can he bounce back from it?  I think this may stick with the young man for a while, especially given the WAY he lost the Masters.  I mean, if he has a lead in another major or other tournament, will that choke job at the Masters creep into his head?

I’m pulling for this kid.  I just hope I’m wrong…