Golf: This was a grand prize as great as any Olympic medal as Rory McIlroy – who became the latest custodian of the Rodman Wanamaker Trophy – showed all that glistens is not gold.
In capturing the gigantic silver trophy bestowed on the US PGA champion – with an eight-stroke victory – the 23-year-old Northern Irishman put down another marker towards golfing greatness.
Perhaps he’s already there. His march to a second major title, adding the US PGA championship to his US Open victory of last year, was imperious and reinstalled McIlroy as the number one player on the official world rankings.
It also earned him a winner’s cheque for $1.44 million (€1.17 million). On this sandy island off the South Carolinas, ravaged over time by hurricanes and tornadoes, but which yesterday basked in glorious sunshine, McIlroy strode its fairways with assuredness.
"I don't think I have let it sink in yet," he said afterwards. "It was a great round of golf - I am speechless.
"The game-plan was just to play solid. I got off to a bit of a shaky start, but settled into it and I thought my putting today was phenomenal.
"Thanks dad and thanks mum - I'm sure she's watching at home. I had a good feeling at the start, but I never imagined doing this.
"It means an awful lot to look at the names on that trophy and put mine alongside them."
Only the jauntiness of the steps and the mop of curls escaping from under his cap hinted at his youth, for this was a victory march of the age in which he combined all components of his game – driving, approach play and putting – to play with a composure that belied his years.
McIlroy’s win told where his destiny is taking him. He became the youngest winner of the US PGA since Tiger Woods in 1999, and the second youngest multiple major champion since Seve Ballesteros.
The legendary Spaniard was three months younger when claiming his second Major, the US Masters, in 1980. McIlroy is not just following in such footsteps, he is creating his own.
“When Rory lost at the Masters [last year], I said that he could challenge for Jack Nicklaus’s record [of 18 career Majors],” said Pádraig Harrington, a three-time Major champion.
“People could be saying I was right. You’ve got to start when you’re young to get to Tiger’s [Woods] 14 or Jack’s 18, to start doing it in your early 20s because, as good as Tiger was, Major wins don’t come around as easy as people think they do. It’s prolific winning to win one a year, so Rory has another 20, 25 years of golf ahead.”
In a statement last night, the Taoiseach said McIlroy's win was "further confirmation of his enormous golfing talent and a clear signal that he has the potential to become one of the greats of the game".
"Irish golf is going through an amazing period of success and Rory is at the vanguard of that charge," Enda Kenny said.
Collated fourth round scores & totals (USA unless stated, par 72):
275Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 67 75 67 66
283David Lynn (Eng) 73 74 68 68
284Keegan Bradley 68 77 71 68, Justin Rose (Eng) 69 79 70 66, Ian Poulter (Eng) 70 71 74 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 66 74 72 72
285Steve Stricker 74 73 67 71, Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 75 70 71, Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 69 73 73 70, Blake Adams 71 72 75 67
286Tiger Woods 69 71 74 72, Adam Scott (Aus) 68 75 70 73, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 68 76 71 71, Ben Curtis 69 77 73 67, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 78 70 70, Bubba Watson 73 75 70 68, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 73 73 69
287John Daly 68 77 73 69, Bo Van Pelt 73 73 67 74, Pádraig Harrington (Irl)70 76 69 72
288Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 74 75 74 65, Pat Perez 69 76 71 72, Robert Garrigus 74 73 74 67, Joost Luiten (Ned) 68 76 75 69, Jimmy Walker 73 75 67 73, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 79 70 69
289Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 72 70 76, Jason Dufner 74 76 68 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 75 74 71 69, Marc Leishman (Aus) 74 72 71 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 77 72 71
290Bill Haas 75 73 69 73, John Senden (Aus) 73 74 72 71, Greg Chalmers(Aus) 70 76 72 72, Luke Donald (Eng) 74 76 74 66
291Phil Mickelson 73 71 73 74, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 69 74 77, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 71 75 73 72, Rich Beem 72 76 72 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 73 71 75, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 73 74 74 70
292Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 75 74 75, J J Henry 72 77 70 73, Jim Furyk 72 77 70 73, Martin Laird (Sco) 71 74 79 68, David Toms 72 78 72 70, Gary Woodland 67 79 75 71
293Dustin Johnson 71 79 72 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 73 75 75 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 79 74 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 75 73 73, Paul Lawrie (Sco) 73 75 71 74, Scott Piercy 68 78 78 69
294Brendon De Jonge 71 78 72 73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 70 75 74 75, K J Choi (Kor) 69 77 75 73, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 72 78 71 73, Darren Clarke(NIrl) 73 76 72 73
295Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 69 77 79 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 70 77 74 74
296K.T. Kim (Kor) 69 77 77 73
297George McNeill 71 76 80 70, Ken Duke 71 78 74 74, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 67 78 75 77, Chez Reavie 74 76 73 74
298Alexander Noren (Swe) 67 80 73 78, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 74 75 78 71
299John Huh (Kor) 72 78 79 70, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 72 76 78 73
300Zach Johnson 72 73 76 79
304Matthew Every 72 76 74 82
306Cameron Tringale 69 78 77 82
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/710e355a-3012-437a-904c-5afabdb28c99.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)