Rory McIlroy continued to enhance his status as one of the golfing greats by winning a fourth major title at the PGA Championship on Sunday, before admitting the significance of his achievement will take time to sink in.
Aged just 25, the Northern Irish world number one became the fourth youngest player to land four majors, with only Tom Morris Jr, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods completing the feat before him.
He also became just the fifth player to win the British Open and PGA Championship in the same year, emulating Walter Hagen (in 1924), Nick Price (1994), Woods (2000 and 2006) and Padraig Harrington (2008).
“Winning the (British) Open championship a few weeks ago had sort of put me on a higher level in this game,” McIlroy said after overcoming a “flat start” in Sunday's final round at a rain-sodden Valhalla Golf Club to emerge triumphant by one shot.
“But to win a fourth major here, to be one behind Phil (Mickelson), one behind Seve (Seve Ballesteros), level with Ernie (Els), level with Raymond Floyd; I never thought I'd get this far at 25 years of age. “It's something that I'm just going to have to come to terms with. I was happy being a two-time major champion coming into this year, and all of a sudden I'm a four-time major champion.”
McIlroy had been an overwhelming favourite heading into Valhalla after completing a wire-to-wire victory at last month's British Open before winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in his next start.
“Would today be the most satisfying if I was able to gut it out and win ugly? Yeah, it is. To win it in this fashion and this style, it means a lot. It means that I know that I can do it. I know that I can come from behind,” said McIlroy.
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