Rivalry makes it to East Lake

be, especially to an older gent with an ebbing hairline).

Rather, they are locked in a two-way battle for the heart, mind and vault combination of golf. It is the classic story of the aging (36-year-old) champion trying to ward off a young upstart (23), a sort of “Rocky III” with courtesy cars.

As if to emphasize the rivalry, the PGA Tour’s playoffs have been all about placing these two in the same camera shot. They have been paired together four times in the FedEx Cup preliminaries. And, as Nos. 1 and 2 in the point standings, as well as the world rankings, they will be together again today at 1:55 p.m. at East Lake for the first round of the Tour Championship. The gallery they command may cause the course to tilt and yaw like an overloaded schooner.

The Tour Championship is all about simplifying the golf- watching experience, cutting through all the clutter of the usual big field, reducing the options to a manageable 30. Confine that further to just two guys, and that’s something the casual fan can really latch onto.

Even the not-so-casual observer has enjoyed the show. “It’s fun for the game,” said Brandt Snedeker, fifth in FedEx points. “It has been great for TV. I loved watching it and being part of it.”

McIlroy is not hiding from the mano-a-mano. He even has dreamed aloud of meeting Woods beyond the Tour Championship, in some pivotal Ryder Cup match the following week. “I’m not going to sit here and lie and say I wouldn’t enjoy it because I would,” he said Wednesday.

Others have shrunk from the challenge of trying to hang with Woods, fearing they dare not fly too close to that particular sun. McIlroy appears completely at ease with the notion, which likely contributes to the fact that he wears the world’s No. 1 ranking so easily and has won a couple of majors at an age that puts him on a career arc similar to Woods.

McIlroy has won four times on the PGA Tour this year, including one major and the past two FedEx Cup events. Woods has won three times in a come-