The knock on Rory McIlroy used to be that he won his majors on soft courses. Even on Sunday, when he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy said an argument could be made that he hasn't won on courses of the highest repute.

Toying with his opponents had come to an end. That seems an exaggeration of Rory McIlroy’s standing and prowess in professional golf, given the past few years have been noted not for what he has done so much as what almost was.