McIlroy anointed next great golfer at early age

At age 2, he hit a 40-yard drive on the golf course. By age 9, he was hitting holes in one.

It's the legend of a golf prodigy that sounds a lot like Tiger Woods. But it's actually the back story of Rory McIlroy.

And now, after McIlroy's record-setting play at the U.S. Open, the comparisons with Tiger Woods are only going to continue.

Indeed, on Sunday, the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland had everyone talking - including Woods.

"What a performance from start to finish," Woods said of McIlroy's dominant play.

As "Early Show" co-anchor Jeff Glor found out when he interviewed McIlroy in 2009 (see video above), the young phenom was being compared to Woods even as a teenager.

"Ball striking-wise at 19, he's probably better than Tiger was at 19," pro golfer Mark O'Meara said at the time.

Even Tiger himself was heaping on the praise back then: "He has all the components to be the best player in the world."

As for McIlroy, he told Glor that his working-class background and his all-consuming focus on golf is what drives him to be the best.

Asked what he does when he's not golfing, McIlroy had a very Tiger-like response: "Practicing."