BETHESDA, Maryland - Golf has not felt such fun since "Tiger-mania".

Rory McIlroy's youthful charm and overpowering form created a win for the ages at the US Open, personality and performance mixing in a way unseen since an exuberant 21-year-old Tiger Woods won his first major at the 1997 Masters.

After the infamous Woods sex scandal and a left knee injury that kept the 14-time major champion from the US Open, a 22-year-old boy wonder from Northern Ireland joyfully delivered a record-crushing romp to his first major title.