Young and nerveless major winners

putts stopped just short when in the jaws of the hole, or grazed the edge. There have been four significant improvements to McIlroy’s armoury that contributed hugely to him being in contention each time. Returning to his boyhood coach Michael Bannon restored the majesty to his driving. Under the occasional, watchful eye of former American Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon, his putting has clearly improved beyond recognition. So has his wedge play, where the rewards of practising for countless hours on a par three course at his home club in Florida are obvious. The other big factor has been working with sports psychologist Bob Rotella again. The two shots McIlroy hit on the infamous 17th on Sunday were right out of the top drawer, in the most pressured of circumstances. The putts just didn’t go in. As he said: ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, I just didn’t do enough things right.’ The majors next year appear to be set up well for him. The PGA will be staged at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York, which is his wife Erica’s hometown. The Open returns to Hoylake, where McIlroy claimed his only Claret Jug to date in 2014. He’s often compared to a younger Phil Mickelson, and let’s not forget that at the same age that Rory is now, the American had plenty of near misses in majors but no victories, before going on to win six. There’s not much more that McIlroy can do, other than try to stay patient. On Sunday, he had a pursuer in Smith having one of those days when he was doing things he had never done before in his career. That’s the trouble, though. A nerveless and exciting corps of young players are going to keep doing things like that in turn. It’s now 251 days until the next major and it’s going to feel like the clock is ticking for McIlroy, still stuck on the tally of four he had accumulated when he was the young man with the world at his feet.