Rory McIlroy’s PGA Championship victory and fantastic year owes just a little bit to our own Adam Scott

RORY McIlroy is clearly the world’s best golfer. Let no one dispute this. So how did our own Adam Scott, the world No. 2, help Rory get his mojo back?

LOUISVILLE, KY - AUGUST 10: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland poses with the Wanamaker trophy after his one-stroke victory during the final round of the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on August 10, 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

WORLD No. 1 Rory McIlroy did a perfectly fine job of winning this week’s PGA Championship all by himself, thanks very much.

The Northern Irishman’s approach to the 17th green was the signature moment of a man in total control. His drive was wayward, but he drilled a nine iron from a fairway bunker to within 10 feet of the pin, and duly drained the birdie putt.

MORE: McIlroy win PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy’s shot on 17 that effectively won the tournament.

And that was that. That was the moment that underlined how McIlroy could not just dispense with a world-class field, but could also overcome his worst foe — himself.

This has been McIlroy’s year. The 25-year-old has four wins overall, including three wins at his past three starts, and two majors.

He is now entrenched at world No. 1 ahead of Australia’s Adam Scott, and that’s no small irony because Scott, in a way, helped McIlroy reach the lofty perch.

McIlroy, of course, had previously been world No. 1 in 2012. But things turned sour in 2013. That was the year in which he lost his mojo and almost, but not quite, went the whole year without winning a tournament.

Then came the final round at the Australian Open. The tournament was a two horse race, with the whole of Australia urging Adam Scott home to win the third leg of the local triple crown. Scott had already won the Australian Masters and PGA, and started the final round four strokes clear of McIlroy.

But the little putts wouldn’t drop. They came close but they just wouldn’t drop, while McIlroy slowly, slowly chipped away at the lead. To continue the horse racing analogy, if Scott had started the final day with a four length lead, it was now down to a length or so.

Come the 18th, Scott still held a stroke advantage. His neck was still in front. But the 18th at Royal Sydney is an imposing hole. The grand, oversized clubhouse dwarfs you as you play your approach to the green. You can just about imagine the stuffy members peering through the shutters over a snifter of brandy. The south-easterly was up too, which meant the hole was playing strongly downwind.

Maybe it was adrenaline, maybe it was poor club selection and maybe it was just a mis-strike.

Yup.

Whatever it was, Scott smashed his approach over the back of the green almost into the clubhouse while McIlroy nailed his approach. The end result was bogey for Scott, birdie for McIlroy. And that was enough for the one-stroke win. In the two horse race, the Northern Irishman had stuck his nose out on the wire when it really counted and pipped the Aussie.

There’s a lot beside that moment that explains why McIlroy today won his fourth major in Louisville, Kentucky, a city famous for America’s most famous horse race, the Kentucky Derby.

He rejigged his putting stroke after realising he was consistently missing left. He also seems to have played better since cancelling his planned marriage to tennis glamourpuss Caroline Wozniacki in May, three days after the duo sent out the invitations.

Cheers for getting my career back on track, bro.

McIlroy has always had sublime talent, but now he has consistency too. Talk to elite sportsmen and they tell you that they often just need one taste, one reminder of that winning feeling, to make it a habit. Here’s what McIlroy said after beating Scott back on December 1 last year.

“Doing that today was very satisfying and doing it against one of the best players in the world right now is probably even better. It’s not the level I think I can play to, but I think I’m getting back there... ”

The guy gives Adam Scott a start and a beating and says he’s still not at the level he can get to? Geez, that seemed arrogant at the time. It doesn’t now, though, does it?

Originally published as Rory McIlroy’s PGA Championship victory and fantastic year owes just a little bit to our own Adam Scott