The sports editor has an interesting habit of framing questions to me in the context of ‘marks out of 10’. So, when he texted me to ask ‘accuracy marks out of 10 for that L’Equipe story’, I gave it a three.

Rory McIlroy, the Irish boy wonder who took the European Tour by storm when he turned professional late last year, is coming to terms with the fact that getting to the top is likely to be a marathon and not a sprint.