Hats off and more than a polite golf clap to Rory McIlroy, runaway winner of the 2011 U.S. Open. There will be a lot of debate over how supposedly “tame” Congressional C.C. was in allowing so many players to go under par over the weekend, but the fact remains, you take away Rory’s over-the-top performance, and you end up with a pretty dramatic Sunday finish with lots of players hanging around the -4 to -8 spots.

I will say this about the USGA and the way Congressional was set up for this week: 1) anytime you try and schedule a U.S. Open in June in Washington, D.C. you’re asking for trouble. You could get a long period of blistering hot weather that would burn up the greens if you’re not too careful with the H2O; otherwise, like this week, you get torrential rains and the golf course is laying open for the taking like Paris Hilton in one of her home movies. The weather being something you cannot control, you’re playing with fire either way.

To me, as lovely a course as Congressional is, I think it sets up more as a PGA venue more than a U.S. Open one. Then, it being August, let the thunderstorms drop whatever rain they will, just grow the rough out, shring the fairways a bit, and let the tee boxes and pin placements do their work. No one would complain about a -8 or so winner at a PGA.

That being said, anyone who complains about the scores at this year’s Open does a great disservice to McIlroy. Forget about all the sub-par scores, the fact is Congressional’s set-up played to his strengths and he took advantage of it like no other player in he field. McIlroy deserves all the accolades he gets, and it will be exciting to see where his career goes from here.

Rory McIlroy is the “feel good story” of the year – from the depths of despair at Augusta to the top of the heap in Bethesda, very seldom do you get such redemption stories like that. He’s got a huge competitive streak beaneath that “aw shucks” demeanor, but he comes across a genuine, humble – and, better yet, a fast-playing – golf role model. After the Tiger Woods crap of the past two years, you can’t do a whole lot better than that.

Congrats to Rory McIlroy. Well done!