Rob Lee predicts an entertaining tussle between McIlroy and Scott down under

Rob Lee looks forward to Rory McIlroy's showdown with Adam Scott, while Tiger Woods prepares for his return to action next week.

After six weeks away from competitive golf, I thought Rory McIlroy’s performance in Dubai was tremendous. He was only a whisker away from winning, but he had already been crowned Race to Dubai champion with an event to spare.

We used to say we were lucky to be living in the world of Tiger Woods, but now we’re saying how lucky we are to live in the world of Rory McIlroy.

He just does it right. He can play like you can’t believe, and he’s just so giving when you speak to him. He’s so open and unguarded, whereas Woods was always a bit colder and basically gave you very little. Rory is such an approachable superstar, it’s quite extraordinary.

I guess the win at Wentworth, a few days after he split from Caroline Wozniacki, was the turning point of his season. He probably wasn’t in the best mental state, yet he came back from seven shots behind on the final day for an amazing win.

Hopefully his off-course legal issues will be resolved soon, and he’ll arrive at Augusta National in the spring as a huge favourite. He could be as low as 3/1 favourite at the Masters, he’ll be a Woods price from old.

It will be the most anticipated Masters for a long, long time, and the great thing is we’ve got it live on Sky Sports

It will be the most anticipated Masters for a long, long time, and the great thing is we’ve got it live on Sky Sports.

To complete a grand slam of major titles by the age of 25 is unheard of really, but it’s achievable for McIlroy. He could have won it last year but he played the par-fives in level par. For him, the way he drove it, that’s criminal really.

Former fifth major

This week’s Australian Open is Rory’s last event before he packs up for Christmas. The Aussie Open used to be called the fifth major – Jack Nicklaus won it six times – and all the big stars used to go down there.

The field is much weaker these days, but the great thing this week is that you’ve got the last world No 1 in Adam Scott, and the current world No 1 Rory McIlroy going head to head again in an event that Scott truly cherishes.

To have both is great for the Australian public and it should be a fantastic event at The Australian in Sydney. I’m really amazed that Scott and McIlroy haven’t been paired together for the first two rounds as that seems to be the way of things these days, but I'm not a fan of that. I prefer that they come together at the weekend if they're both playing well, that's how it should be.

I can’t see anybody upstaging those two. Both McIlroy and Scott finished second last week, and if one of them doesn’t win the Australian Open I’ll be amazed. They are so far and away better than everyone else in the field, and it would be great if they’re both in contention with a round to go.

Scott’s next move is to find a new long-term caddie. Steve Williams was the hard edge that Scott hasn’t actually got, and he definitely drove Adam on, so he’s got to find someone else in that mould. He needs a bit of extra steel that he can lean on.

Coach Como

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods has made a significant appointment just a week before he returns to action at his own Hero World Challenge in Florida.

He announced earlier this week that he has hired Chris Como as his new swing coach. Como has previously worked with Trevor Immelman and Aaron Baddeley and is known for his biomechanical approach to coaching.

It’s an interesting move from Woods. I guess he will be fearful of the prospect of another knee operation and his body breaking down. I heard at one point that his good friend Notah Begay was going to be his coach, but it seems that Notah put Tiger on to Como.

Biomechanics is part of his thing, they’ve obviously discussed his swing and we’ll see what comes out of it. But Tiger has to do something different, because what he was doing with Sean Foley wasn’t any good.

His top priority will be to hit more fairways. If you look at McIlroy, you’re looking at someone who does what Tiger has never been able to do. Tiger has never been able to drive the ball quite like Rory McIlroy does.

Rory has now set the new benchmark, and I think that’s what Tiger will look to emulate – he just needs to drive the ball better. Under Sean Foley he was pretty much just blocking his way around the golf course, trying to trap-fade everything to keep the bad shots off his scorecard, but that meant he couldn’t drive it.

He’s got to find another way of driving it as he looks to come back, stay fit and be relevant again.

There have been calls for Tiger to go back to the coach that steered him to his early successes – Butch Harmon – but I would think that bridge is burnt, I don’t think there’s a way back there.

Australian Open Golf

Would Butch have him back? I doubt it. Phil Mickelson is his No 1 man now, and I don’t think it’s an option for Tiger to go back there.

Tiger said he went to Hank Haney to try and ease the stress on his body, so he’s now trying the same thing again with Chris Como. When you talk about the world’s top coaches, Como’s name doesn’t come up.

But Woods has gone to a lower-profile coach, and maybe that is a conscious choice - it could be that he wanted to be slightly off the radar. For a guy like Chris Como, maybe he’s got less to lose.

Tiger is back next week, and I think a good week for him will be to complete four rounds under par and play properly. They’re playing at Isleworth, and I know he once shot 59 around there in practice with Mark O’Meara, but you don’t hear that mentioned any more for some reason.

It’s a place he’s very comfortable with, it’s a home-from-home and it’s a perfect place for him to return to action. If he shoots four sub-par rounds and has some sort of game, that would represent a good week.

So 2014 is almost done. The Ryder Cup is over, the Race to Dubai is over and the Americans have already started they’re new season. But before we know it, we’ll be in to the 2015 season on the European Tour when the Nedbank Golf Challenge starts next week.

We’re always looking forward in this game, there’s no time to look back.

ROB'S SKY BET TIP

I'm going for Rory to get the better of Scott again and defend his title Down Under.