Rory McIlroy won fourth major

Then just 25 years old, Rory McIlroy entered the final major championship of 2014, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, as the world No. 1. He’d regained the top stop just that week after consecutive wins at the Open Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Four rounds later, he backed up his world ranking by doing Tiger Woods-type things: winning consecutive majors, playing virtually mistake-free all week and beating Phil Mickelson in the process.

The Northern Irishman shot rounds of 66-67-67-68 to finish at 16-under 268, one clear of Mickelson and two ahead of Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson, claiming his fourth major championship and cementing his spot as golf’s next big thing. With the 2014 PGA, he became just the fourth player in the past century to win four majors at age 25 or younger, joining Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones. How’s that for company?

With an effervescent bounce in his step and enough confidence to fill the Wanamaker Trophy 10 times over, McIlroy made the difficult seem simple that week in Kentucky. You’ve got to remember, this was back when Fowler wasn’t a redemption story (he actually finished top five in all four of that year’s majors, including two T-2s), when Mickelson was a year removed from winning his fifth major championship and when Stenson was a force to be reckoned with rather than an afterthought in LIV Golf.

He beat them all, but it was far from a walk in the park.

Rory McIlroy celebrates with the Wanamaker trophy after his one-stroke victory in the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Lee Westwood stormed out the gate like a thoroughbred at nearby Churchill Downs with nine birdies and signed for a round of 6-under 65 to sit atop the leaderboard after round one alongside Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer. McIlroy rebounded from an early double bogey when he made four straight birdies on the back nine to sit one shot back at 5 under.

Come Friday, McIlroy was the man out front after a 4-under 67, taking the 36-hole lead by one over Jason Day and Jim Furyk. Mickelson went two shots better than his Thursday effort with a 4-under 67 of his own to sit three shots back at 6-under, T-7 alongside Bernd Wiesberger.

A ho-hum Moving Day saw a stagnant McIlroy catch fire on the back nine once again with birdies on three of his last four holes to shoot 67 for the second consecutive day and keep his one-shot advantage, this time at 13 under over…