Saturday, June 18, 2011 6:43 p.m. By Leonard Shapiro CSNWashington.com Readers of this space may have noticed the shameless promotion of my new book, 밎olf List Mania,?at the end of columns posted over the past few weeks. If there is ever a second printing, we뭠l stop the presses and add the following list: 밫en Reasons We All Adore Rory McIlroy.? 10. The nickname: This came courtesy of Graeme McDowell, his Northern Ireland countryman, after the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday, when McIlroy set a 36-hole scoring record of 11-under 131 at Congressional and opened a six-shot lead. 밐e뭩 probably the best driver of the ball I뭭e ever seen,?McDowell said. 밯e nicknamed him BMW because he is the ultimate driving machine. I played off his drives at the Ryder Cup. I뭗 love to do it for one week playing off his drives. He뭩 decimated this U.S. Open course, and this is no easy test. It뭩 an amazing display of golf.? 9. The swing: For all the details, check out Sally Jenkins' column in Saturday뭩 Washington Post, but all you have to know is the assessment of Johnny Miller of NBC. 밒t뭩 the best swing in golf,?Miller said. 밐e could be the next [Tiger] Woods. Some guys win by accident, OK? They hang around and everyone chokes. This guy has the ability to separate himself from the field and just beat the pants off people, and that뭩 a rare, rare talent." 8. His driving: And no, we뭨e not talking about his ability to navigate his way around the beltway to get to the golf course. McIlroy hits the ball a ton and hits it with great accuracy. Through his first two rounds, he averaged 312 yards off the tee and hit 20 of 28 fairways. Even when he뭩 missed a fairway this week, it뭩 been a near miss. And did we mention he led the field in greens in regulation after two rounds, missing only four in 36 holes? 7. Mentors: How can you go wrong when Jack Nicklaus takes you under his wing and offers you the sage advice of his more than 60 years in the game? What has Nicklaus told him? 밒 needed to be a little more cocky, a little more arrogant on the golf course, and think a little bit more about myself,?McIlroy said after Friday뭩 round. 밒 just try to have a bit of an attitude. 밐e just sort of said to me: 멦here뭩 going to be a lot of pressure on you, but you뭭e got to put a lot of pressure on yourself early.?That뭩 what he always did. He always put a lot of pressure on himself to do well. He didn뭪 really threaten to beat me up, but I think I could take him now. He뭩 a little old.? 6. Such grace: When McIlroy shot 80 at the Masters and tied for 15th after leading the tournament after each of the first three rounds, he could easily have slipped out a side entrance of the Augusta National clubhouse and done a disappearing act, like so many of his peers have done in similar situations. Instead, he stayed and faced the music, appearing at several post-round media sessions and even speaking to a number of writers in the locker room. It was a class-act, bravura performance of the highest order. 5. His hometown: The lad grew up in Hollywood, Northern Ireland. That뭩 right, another Hollywood star. And his manager has a made-for-the-movies moniker as well. That would be Chubby Chandler. 4. Fan friendliness: McIlroy stops and signs autographs before and after most of his rounds, and if he뭩 in a hurry to make his tee time, I뭭e seen him apologize to people for not accommodating them at that very moment. The other day as he walked off the Congressional practice range toward the first tee, he was in a major rush to get off on time, but told fans he뭗 be happy to sign for them after the round. He does that all the time. 3. The look: One that every mother could only adore -- curly long locks, what Jenkins described as a 뱎udding face,?whatever that means (tapioca or chocolate), his boyish smile, his mostly conservative golf course attire, his sensible shoes. 2. A social consciousness: Last week, when most of his playing peers were working on their games, McIlroy spent two days in Haiti representing UNICEF, an illuminating experience judging from his description of the trip. 밫hey didn뭪 have a clue who I was,?he said this week. 밒 thought I had perspective before going to Haiti, and then actually seeing it just gives you a completely different view on the world and the game you play. It just makes you feel so lucky that I뭢 able just to sit here and drink a bottle of water, just the normal things that everyone does that you take for granted. ? "It뭩 not just Haiti, there뭩 countries all over the world that are having the same problems. It뭩 just great to see so many people willing to help.? 1. A short memory: Everyone knows that McIlroy opened the British Open a year ago with a record first-round 63, only to shoot 80 the next day and eventually finish third. The wide world of golf watched in some dismay as he shot the same score on Masters Sunday two months ago after leading the tournament by four after 54 holes. But McIlroy has been able to block that out of his mind ?at least for the first three rounds of the U.S. Open ?and also has tried to learn from those mistakes. 밡o doubt it was a great experience for me,?McIlroy said earlier this week of his Masters collapse. 밒 took the positives from out of that. There weren뭪 many positives to take from the Sunday. It뭩 hard, the first time in that situation. You뭨e going to be feeling the pressure a little bit, and I certainly did. I felt a little differently on the Sunday than I had done the previous few days, but that뭩 natural. You just move on; that뭩 all you can do. 밫he first three days, I played aggressively [in the Masters]. I played smartly, but I played aggressively to my targets and aggressively to the spots I wanted to hit it. And then going into the Sunday, I started to play defensively, and that뭩 when things can go wrong.? Here뭩 hoping he gets it right. Leonard Shapiro can be reached at [email protected] or @badgerlen on Twitter. His new book, Golf List Mania, is available at Amazon, Kindle and bookstores. Tags: Golf, Rory McIlroy, US Open, Len Shapiro, 2011 US Open