When Tiger Woods blitzed the U.S. Open field at Pebble Beach in 2000 I was a 15-year-old. Now, 11 years later, my 26-year-old self saw Rory McIlroy do something similar at Congressional Country Club.

As a 15-year-old, I watched Woods in awe and amazement. But I was watching someone older than me do something incredible. At that time, I thought greatness was something we all found and achieved…in the future.

This time, I watched a kid four years younger than me do something I’ll never do. I didn’t watch with the same awe and amazement. But, I watched with a level of appreciation I couldn’t comprehend 11 years ago.

Before we anoint McIlroy the next Tiger or we debate tirelessly which performance was more incredible…take pause to appreciate the greatness in what Rory just did. It doesn’t need to exist in parallel or comparison to the feats of those before him. For four days, McIlroy probably mishit a total of somewhere between one and five shots. That’s incredible. That’s mind blowing. That’s greatness.

As children, we believe that greatness is inside all of us. I don’t doubt that it is, but very few of us realize it. Most of us are good at certain things and average at the rest. We walk through ordinary lives that are beautiful in their own right. They don’t pale in comparison to those of famous athletes or stars.

But it is something to watch someone do something truly extraordinary. And, make no mistake, that’s what Rory McIlroy did last week at the U.S. Open – extraordinary.

When I was 15, I believed I had a performance like Woods buried within me somewhere. Now, at 26, I know that I don’t.

But, Mr. McIlroy did. And, that’s incredible. And, for that, we should stand and applaud. We should appreciate that we’ve just witnessed greatness.