Letter from Valhalla: McIlroy heads into PGA Championship with omens pointing to 2014

McIlroy returns to Valhalla 10 years later still looking for major victory No. 5.

Rory McIlroy celebrates his one-stroke victory on the 18th green during the final round of the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. Kentucky. Picture: Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Long before Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson found themselves on the bristly opposite ends of golf’s political divide, there was tension. It first bubbled up in the late gloaming before darkness fell on the 72nd hole at Valhalla Golf Club at the 2014 PGA Championship.

A two-hour Sunday rain delay had created a race against daylight as McIlroy rallied from an early final-round slip and charged ahead on a back nine that saw Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson all hold a share of the lead at one point. Heading in near darkness to the 18th tee with a two-shot lead, McIlroy was desperate try to finish without having to sleep on it until Monday morning.