Huge congratulations to Rory McIlroy on winning the Open Championship.

As I mentioned last week, the two golfers I most fancied to carry off the Claret Jug were McIlroy and Adam Scott – so I was cheering McIlroy all the way on that last day.

It is wonderful to see somebody have such control over a golf ball.

It’s the sort of thing you dream about as an average handicapper but know it’s never going to happen.

I think McIlroy can win more majors – and certainly those in the USA because he has two of them already (the US Open and the US PGA) and the Masters is played on a course at Augusta which should suit his game perfectly.

It will be a test of his growing maturity to see if he can win the Open again in upcoming years, especially if it’s windy.

You would think that coming from Northern Ireland he would treat Links golf as second nature, but Rory has struggled in some previous Opens.

There was a huge advantage for his side of the draw at Royal Liverpool – Adam Scott was in the unlucky half of the draw – and it was a relatively benign Open weather wise, but having said that McIlroy played magnificently.

I think we are seeing the fruits of him making a fresh start in his private life.

It’s amazing how sportsmen can be affected when their home life goes off the rails, but now Rory has put his troubles behind him I think we are starting to see just how good he is.

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