But as the expectations for him to supplant Woods as the game's pre-eminent player soared, McIlroy suddenly stumbled.
Yesterday, the pre-eminent player in English football could have been forgiven for taking the same trophy and casually throwing it on the pile with all the rest.
In fact, Friday's performance did not tell us anything new, but merely confirmed what we already knew: with speed, size, power, athleticism and an off-the-chart basketball I.Q., James is the pre-eminent player of his generation.
Streaming is the reason the three big corporations who define the mainstream music industry are in the midst of an apparent revival, and as the pre-eminent player in that field, Spotify takes a lot of the credit.
Founded in 1851 as a telegraph company, Western Union is now the pre-eminent player in the money-transfer industry.
For anyone but Ewing to be remembered as the pre-eminent player of his class would be a farce.
"These brands will emerge as the pre-eminent players in the movie business".
Similarly, Bryant and O'Neal, the pre-eminent players of their day at their positions, are embraced for elevating the Lakers to dominant status in team sports.
Jackson entrenched herself as one of the game's pre-eminent players, backing her way in for layups, spotting up for 3-pointers and rejecting shots back to the floor.
Level One is one of the pre-eminent players in the Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet marketplace a lower end of the market.
And the recession, which swept like a scythe through journalism jobs in Alaska — as it did in many places — left "Alaska's News Source," as it calls itself, more pre-eminent than ever as competition faded.
