Five years’ from now, Rory Mcilroy could have the eight more majors he needs to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Walter Hagen in double figures. If that were to happen, events of 2013 – he sank from a clear No 1 in the World Rankings to No 6 - would be seen as nothing more than a minor blip on his CV.
If, on the other hand, he should struggle to rediscover his old magic and momentum, how many will put it down to the protracted financial tangles as he parted ways with Horizon Sports Management, the second management group of his short career?
It is true that the 24-year-old McIlroy was able to put his troubles aside as he shrugged off his rivals at the Australian Open. But how much better would it have been if, at the same time, he had been able to set straight his business affairs and start 2014 on an all-round high?
As it is, the court case with Horizon seems set to hang over him like the proverbial sword of Damocles until October - unless, of course, the parties settle out of court.
To give a brief and basic summation of the problems, 2013 started on a bad note for McIlroy as he struggled with the clubs he was using under the new US$20m per annum deal Horizon had struck for him with Nike. He was more than a tad fractious when the media queried whether he had done the right thing on that front, while his old humour similarly went a-missing when it came to fielding questions about his romance with tennis-star girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki.
It was in May that rumours had started in earnest about departure from Horizon.
McIlroy felt that the company was making off with an unfairly high percentage of his earnings - namely five per cent of his on-course income and 20 percent of his off-course payments. Horizon, for their part, eventually made plain that they intend to counter-claim against the player for the damage done to their reputation and for loss of earnings through his termination of agreements.
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