Rory McIlroy, decked out in Tiger Red, looked every bit the part of golf's next star in another command performance at last month's PGA Championship.
McIlroy validated his record-setting US Open win last year by blowing away the field at Kiawah Island. One last birdie from 25 feet on the 18th hole gave him a 6-under 66 for an eight-shot victory, breaking the PGA Championship record for margin of victory that Jack Nicklaus set in 1980.
The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland returned to No 1 in the world, and he became the youngest player since Seve Ballesteros to win two majors. Tiger Woods was about four months older than McIlroy when he won his second major.
Just like the US Open at Congressional, McIlroy won this one going away.
McIlroy seized control with back-to-back birdies Sunday morning to complete the storm-delayed third round with a 67 and build a three-shot lead. No one got closer than two shots the rest of the way, and McIlroy closed out a remarkable week by playing bogey-free over the final 23 holes of a demanding Ocean Course.
David Lynn, a 38-year-old English journeyman who was playing in America for the first time, was the surprise runner-up after closing with a 68. Woods, who shared the 36-hole lead for the second time this year in a major, was never a serious factor. He tossed away his chances on the Saturday before the storm blew in and never could get closer than four shots. He closed with a 72, failing to break par on the weekend in any of the four majors for the first time in his career.
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