Lesson learned for Rory McIlroy in significant victory

Rory McIlroy will be judged by his major wins but some victories are more significant than others and Monday’s comeback triumph in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston may well go down as a watershed in the Co Down man’s career.

When Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was asked by Richard Nixon in 1972 what the impact of the 1789 French Revolution had been, he famously replied it was still “too early to say”. It’s too early to say what the future might hold for McIlroy but two big keys emerged at TPC Boston that could have major effects on golf’s world order.

The realisation he must keep fighting no matter how hopeless the situation might seem — he was four over par after three holes in round one in Boston and still won — is a lesson McIlroy has struggled to grasp since he was a boy.