Phil Mickelson believe Rory McIlroy become like Tiger Woods in his pomp and dominate the game.

The left-hander has suffered at the hands of Woods for 17 years and believes that McIlroy's current run is comparable to Woods at his best.

After finishing second to the Co Down man in this month's US PGA — McIlroy's second successive major win and his third victory in a row following his triumph in the Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, he's better qualified to comment than most,

"It's incredible," Mickelson said of McIlroy's hat-trick of wins. "It's an incredible run.  His level of play this last month has been exceptional.  Now, from what I've seen over the years with Tiger, from 2000, if you want to compare it to that, well, he's got a ways to go. 

"But, to win the British and the PGA and throw a World Golf Championships in the middle under anybody's circumstances, that is just a remarkable month of golf and some of the best that I've seen. 

"You can probably go back and compare it to some of the Tiger stuff.  He's done that over decades. 

"And I wouldn't be surprised if Rory did it, too. You just never know. He's that good. He can do it."

McIlroy is the favourite to win again this week at The Barclays in New Jersey and take a giant step towards winning the FedEx Cup.

He appeared with the injured Woods, who will not play again until December, on NBC's Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday.

They later posted a video of themselves completing the ubiquitous Ice Bucket Challenge though McIlroy struggled to get the bucket above Woods' head. 

Woods then soaked McIlroy and nominated Nike founder Phil Knight and tennis star Rafa Nadal while McIlroy called out former President George W. Bush, “AKA 43″, Wayne Rooney and  model Meghan Markle.