When Rory McIlroy won his fourth major golf championship in Kentucky back in August 2014, he was three months past his 25th birthday and right on the schedule that Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus had reached at that stage of their careers.
It had been a bizarre conclusion to the PGA Championship that year as heavy rain on the final day at Valhalla had led to a lengthy suspension in play. As McIlroy two-putted the final green amid flashing bulbs in near darkness, there was a sense of a rushed conclusion to the events of the day.
In such circumstances, it just didn’t feel quite as significant as it should have but it was major number four in the bag and he was asked afterwards about how he felt about the…