Red-hot favourite Rory poised to make it Major number four at Valhalla

He may still be only 25 years of age but if this last month has told us anything about Rory McIlroy, it is that the kid from Holywood knows how to get the job done.

Where McIlroy’s first two Major victories, at the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA Championship, had come in a canter, with record-breaking eight-stroke margins, his third was made of different stuff.

Just as at Congressional and Kiawah Island, McIlroy had made all the running at Hoylake three weeks ago, but this wire-to-wire victory at the Open championship had required some grit to go with the style.