McIlroy caps dramatic rise

Now after winning the US Open in emphatic, dazzling, devastating fashion, he is being billed as the man to lead golf into a new era.

The sport has not seen a victory by such a margin and such a manner since Tiger Woods changed the golfing landscape at Augusta 14 years ago.

The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland swept all before him at Congressional, and in joining Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus in winning his first major at the age of 22, the comparisons to those legends of the game and to the seismic shifts in golf their victories hastened, are obvious.

But such emotions must be kept in check just as McIlroy did so maturely after his Masters meltdown. One tournament was never going to break him, just as the procession he led at Congressional will not make him.

McIlroy has been a golfing story in the making since bursting onto the scene as a fearless amateur at the Open at Carnoustie in 2007, just a few weeks before joining Willett and Parry in a Walker Cup defeat against the United States.

What he demonstrated over the weekend in Maryland was that he has the mental courage to complement his god-given talent.

The last 11 majors have been won by 11 different players – but it is hard to see that sequence being repeated now McIlroy has his hands on one of the game’s defining trophies, the first occasion often the hardest hurdle to overcome.

“To get my first major championship out of the way quite early on in my career, especially after what has happened during the last couple of months, feels great,” said McIlroy. “Now I’m just looking forward to putting myself in the picture for what will hopefully be many more.

“Augusta I felt was a great opportunity to get my first major and it obviously didn’t quite work out. To come back straightaway is nice,” he added.

“I can always call myself a major champion now – and hopefully I’ll also be able to call myself a multiple major champion.”

Comparisons are naturally being drawn to Ballesteros, Nicklaus and Woods – particularly the latter duo’s haul of majors. Even Nicklaus, the man at the top of the tree with 18, has been gushing in his praise of golf’s new star.

“I think this kid’s going to have a great career,” said Nicklaus, who only two weeks ago chatted to the Northern Irishman about his Masters flop in April.

“He’s humble when he needs to be humble and confident when he needs to be confident. He’s cocksure and I like that.

“He obviously had a couple of disappointments at the Masters and last year’s Open (McIlroy started 63-80 at St Andrews and finished with an 80 at Augusta), but I didn’t think that was going to happen again and it hasn’t.”

The spotlight will intensify on golf’s new headliner, particularly with Woods’s star on the wane. Every success and failure will be magnified.

We could be in for more stunning victories and it could be quite a ride so be prepared to sit back and enjoy.

n Leeds’s Danny Denison has climbed to fourth on the Challenge Tour rankings and into a strong position to graduate to the main tour next year after his second-place finish on the European Tour’s Saint-Omer Open on Sunday.

n The clamour to join McIlroy at next month’s Open Championship continued for club pros and local amateurs around the country yesterday.

Pannal and Lindrick were just two of the courses that staged regional qualifying events, with the successful golfers progressing to local final qualifying in the south of England next week.

At Pannal, Alex Belt, Daryl Ley, Simon Coumbe, Adrian Ambler, Aran Wainwright, Stephan Pullan and Darren Walton qualified.

Joe Dean, Daniel Wasteney, Scott Campbell, Stefan Priest and Nick Ludwell found success at Lindrick, while Marcus Armitage made it through from Clitheroe.

n The Yorkshire PGA Championship is held over the next two days at Willow Valley, while Yorkshire’s ladies team is in action this week at the Northern Counties Championship at Lytham.

The Yorkshire Girls Championship takes place on Sunday at Cleckheaton, with a 36-hole strokeplay competition for low handicappers and an 18-hole event for high-handicappers.