A new maturity steadies nerves

AS Rory McIlroy stepped onto the first tee box in the final round of the USPGA Championship on Sunday night, he would have been well aware of the calibre of the chasing pack.

Players like Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson were dangerous and more than capable of blitzing the soft Valhalla course. More importantly, they were also starting ahead of McIlroy, and if they could get some early momentum, then they could make life very difficult for the form player in the world, the man looking to win his second successive Major championship and his fourth in total, in little over three years.

Form suggested that the supremely confident McIlroy was in control of the tournament. But the beauty of sport, and golf in particular, is its unpredictability.