On Thursday evening, McIlroy opened up with a stunning 65 to lead by three. The golfing world took notice but after his demise at TheMasters, no one was expecting what we witnessed next. McIlroy was simply relentless, following his 65 with a 66 on Friday and a 68 on Saturday. It left McIlrory eight ahead with just Sunday’s round to go. 

McIlroy, who has always said the he learnt a lot from the final round at The Masters, was now ready to put that to the test. Players starting in front of him started aggressively, Westwood making birdie at the first. However, McIlroy was more than up to the task, opening with a textbook birdie of his own.

Two poor long-range Birdie putts were soon forgotten about after he cleaned up for par with some great holing out and after his 6 iron at the 10th almost went in and having negotiated the treacherous 11th, again in textbook fashion, it was clear that the remaining holes were not going to cause the 22-year-old a problem.

McIlroy, who broke 12 records on his way to his first Major, beat Jason Day by 8 with Lee Westwood a further two behind. McDowell says that McIlroy is now heading for “superstardom”. Comparisons are now being made to Tiger’s victory at Pebble Beach with us all wondering if McIlroy can dominate the Majors for the next decade as Woods did after his victory.

We look forward to the next Major to see what stories unfold: Will Tiger be back on his game? Can McIlroy recreate what he describes as the “the form of my life” for the tournament?