McIlroy's journey to victory in Open plays out like a movie

It was a long road to the claret jug for such a young superstar.

Only 25 years old and already collecting his third piece of major championship hardware, Rory McIlroy seemed equal parts boy wonder and grizzled veteran sitting next to the game’s most ancient trophy.

“To sit here 25 years of age and win my third major championship and be three-quarters of the way to the career Grand Slam, yeah, I never dreamed of being at this point in my career so quickly,” McIlroy said.

“Quickly” is relative. Age-wise, McIlroy is indeed young. Experience-wise, his British Open saga is longer in the tooth. The path to the claret jug played out like a golf version of the movie Boyhood – each successive year with a different theme building in seven parts to last year’s triumphant finish at Hoylake.

• “Promise” debuted in 2007, when the 18-year-old McIlroy collected the silver medal for low amateur at Carnoustie. “If I can get to play in an Open every year for the next, I don’t know, 30 or 40 years, I’d really enjoy it,” he said.

• “Proving” was the theme in 2009, when he debuted as a professional with a respectable tie for 47th at Turnberry. “I’ve been very pleased with my progress in the majors this year, finishing 20th at the Masters, and then finishing 10th at U.S. Open. So I’ve sort of proved to myself that I do have the game to get around major championships.”

• “Regret” premiered in 2010, when he tied for third despite a second-round 80 at St. Andrews. “If I had just sort of stuck in a little bit more on Friday and held it together more, it could have been a different story.”

• “Setback” came in 2011, when brutal weather at Royal St. George’s left him grousing at T25 about the primary British defenses. “I’m not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather. It’s not my sort of golf. … I’d rather play when it’s 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind.”

• “Disappointing” was the tag for 2012, when he staggered along to a T60 finish at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. “It’s hard when you’re trying to just get that little bit of momentum and you try to force it and you’re maybe trying too hard and things don’t go your way.”

• “Lost” was the spirit of 2013, when he missed his first Open cut at Muirfield with indifferent rounds of 79-75. “It’s just so brain dead,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m walking around out there and I’m unconscious.”

• “Fulfillment” was the climax in 2014, when he went wire-to-wire in a transcendent performance at Royal Liverpool. “I’ve really found my passion again for golf,” he said. “Not that it ever dwindled, but it’s what I think about when I get up in the morning. It’s what I think about when I go to bed. I just want to be the best golfer that I can be.”

Whatever was lost at Muirfield was certainly found at Hoylake with a different kind of unconsciousness. He dominated the course and the field to add the 2014 British to his major catalog.

More than that, he prevailed in his first true weekend challenge at a major after his prior wins came by eight-stroke margins at the U.S. Open (2011) and PGA (2012). When the comfortable lead his opening pair of 66s built was trimmed to a tie with Rickie Fowler after 13 holes on Saturday, McIlroy converted massive drives, precise irons and perfect putts into a birdie and two eagles on the remaining even-numbered holes to open a six-shot overnight gap.

Despite a few Sunday wobbles, he coasted in relative comfort to the two-shot victory over Fowler and Sergio Garcia. The win was doubly sweet for Gerry McIlroy, Rory’s father, who cashed in with three friends for a $350,000 payout on a 500-to-1 wager they made a decade ago that Gerry’s son would win the Open before his 26th birthday.

From his career low point the year before, McIlroy reached a career high.

“Especially being someone from around here – the Open Championship was the one you really wanted growing up, and the one you holed so many putts on the putting green to win, to beat Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, whatever,” he said after the victory. “Didn’t quite need to hole a putt today to do it, just a little tap-in, which was nice. … It hasn’t really sunk in yet. The more I keep looking at this trophy and seeing my name on it, the more it will start sinking in.”

In the immediate aftermath of Hoylake, the missing piece of his career quest was already in his sights – the green jacket.

“Even though there’s still one major left this year that I want to desperately try and win, I’m looking forward to next April and trying to complete the career Grand Slam,” McIlroy said.