PGA Championship: Rory McIlroy win helps make the 'best major in modern times', says Ewen Murray

​As I made my way east from Louisville, via Chicago to London, the first sight of the South Downs was a blessed sight. During these hours spent above the clouds, I couldn't stop the flashbacks of what was arguably the best major in modern times.

Four glorious golfing days; rain, sun, light and darkness. Valhalla is Norse mythology. It's where the Vikings feasted in the great hall with the Gods.

If you play golf, or just enjoy watching it, last week in Kentucky produced everything a major can. In Rory McIlroy, the game has a new leader. It happens every ten or 15 years. From the fifties when Ben Hogan was king, Palmer followed on. Then came Jack, Gary and Tom. Seve lit the blue touch paper in Europe and that heralded a European wave of extraordinary talent. Tiger Woods blew out the flame to take the sport to another level.

Rory is 25 and already has four majors - that's the same as Ernie Els and Raymond Floyd, and one less than Phil Mickelson and Seve. The pressure now will, of course, be on Rory's broad shoulders in the years ahead, but that will only fuel the fire that burns within this outstanding young man.

Aside from his undoubted golfing excellence, he is a modest young man who is a wonderful role model for the next generation. A man who is able to stay on an even keel, a man who changes when he puts his tee in the ground at the first tee and stays focused until he picks the ball out of the hole at the 18th. Then it is Rory again. A well-rounded person who is a credit to his parents and a credit to his sport.

While we are on that subject, what about Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler? In the gathering gloom last Sunday, the day had grown old and the only light left was projected from the clubhouse lounge and David Livingstone's Sky Sports studio. Knowing and respecting the fans and television viewers wanted to see the finish there and then, Rickie and Phil agreed to Rory teeing off 18. If they hadn't, it was a Monday finish. They could have said 'no' and let Rory sleep, or not, on his slender lead. It was an act of great sportsmanship and it allowed us to witness the conclusion of a major that will live long in the memory.

I don't look forward to the day when Phil hangs up his clubs. He is a people's man; a man who cares about others; a man who has given so much to his sport and those who follow it. In Rickie, we have one of the next era who will no doubt continue to contest majors with Rory, alongside those who will have been inspired by their class and professionalism. Fowler and Mickelson may have come up short in Kentucky, but their integrity and decency shone far brighter than those aforementioned lights.

Recovery

I felt for Tiger Woods. Quite simply, he came back too soon from surgery. He should now concentrate on getting healthy again. He failed to edge his way into the top 125, so the Fed-Ex play offs are gone. There is much talk regarding the Ryder Cup, but a half-fit Woods is of no use to his team and his form has left him due to obvious reasons. As I suggested in an earlier column this year, he has to recover and get back to sound basics. He is a shadow of what we know he is.

Fowler and Mickelson may have come up short in Kentucky, but their integrity and decency shone far brighter than those aforementioned lights.

Once fully fit, it will be a wonderful sight to see him challenge Rory. It might be just what he needs to reignite his career; a new challenge that will invigorate him and drive him on to the second coming. But this is Rory's time and there is so much more to come from him this year. He is now the European talisman heading into the Ryder Cup and the Fed-Ex gold is his for the taking.

Our images of this year's PGA Championship will be vivid for some time to come. The rain lashed down from the leaden skies above Louisville and after the clear-up operation, the race was on to beat the fast-fading light. Despite the stoppages, so many players produced fabulous golf and at one time, five players shared the lead.

As always, there are turning points and Rory's five wood to the 10th, which I suspect was a fraction thin, turned the tables. The eagle three gave him the momentum after a lacklustre front nine. Yet after that eagle there was still much to do. He did what was necessary and he did it in style. 

Drama

Valhalla was dramatic, a major in every sense of the word, and it will be remembered for that 18th hole where four players played alongside each other. Some images stay with you forever. Just as he did at Merion last year, Mickelson had his caddie, "Bones McKay" attend the flag for his pitch, one that grazed the hole and denied him the eagle that would have taken him into a play-off.

So the majors are over for 2014 and we have to wait until next April for the Masters. A win for Rory at Augusta and he will be only the sixth player to achieve the career Grand Slam. Not many would bet against it.