Rory taking Clarke’s blunt advice on board

THERE have been more eloquent lines imparted from mentor to protege but Rory McIlroy will be happy to remember Darren Clarke’s “be patient, you muppet” on every hole he plays at this week’s PGA Championship.

Tiger Woods is struggling, Phil Mickelson has medical issues and Lee Westwood is at home nursing a calf injury. It is enough to make a 21-year-old golfer with the world at his feet think he has never had a better chance to win his first major than at Whistling Straits.

The last major of the year starts today, and if Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen can do it, then why not McIlroy, patience permitting.