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If he could birdie the final two holes then he would put Rory and the leaders under a good degree of pressure.
    Tiger birdied the 17 th and was six under for his round. When that putt rolled in and Tiger, in his own inimitable way, walked spritely after it with that killer look of his, Rory had to contain the fact that the crowd, the media and almost everyone wanted Tiger to win.
    He was now the people’s champion after being in the wars the previous few years, usurped in the world rankings by Luke Donald and Rory. There was talk that Tiger was finished. That he would never be the same again. This round disproved all that.
    Rory was on the 12 th and had not done anything of note in his round. Tiger was within three shots of his lead, having been nine behind overnight. It is one thing trying to play percentage golf to contain your lead, it is quite another to deal with a rampaging Tiger.
    Incredibly, he eagled the 18 th ! The explosion of noise all over the course must have rocked Rory off his feet. Tiger, from nowhere, had shot 62 in a round that included two eagles. He was just a shot behind McIlroy. It was his lowest final round score in 17 years.
    The way he played that final hole was a flashback to the genius and Woods of old. A perfect drive was followed by a five iron from 216 yards over water guarding the green. His ball came to rest eight feet away, stone dead and job done after a great day at the office.
    Woods freshened up after signing his cards and went to watch the television. He had one eye on the Dodgers ball game and the other on how Rory and those up front were playing. More importantly: how they would respond and react to his gallant efforts.
    At the time of his magnificent eagle, young Rory was on the 13 th green lining up an eight-foot birdie putt of his own that would move him two shots ahead of Tiger. McIlroy nailed it and made pars the rest of the way home for a two shot win and the coveted top ranking.
    He was world No 1 at last after trying so hard for so long for the win that would leap him over Luke Donald. It was richly deserved. He had shown real ‘champion’ qualities and this Honda Classic was one of the most important wins in his career, for a variety of reasons.
    More pertinently, the victory can be seen as a turning point. In holding Woods at bay, it really signaled a changing of the guard. Tiger had his glory in his prime as a young man and this is a young man’s game. Rory was tops.
    However, more than anything else, this win really showed that Rory now knew how to hold a lead and how, after his Masters collapse, he would not panic. When he birdied on the 13 th for a two shot lead, he knew that with a par five to finish he just had to play sensibly.
    Rory referred to this in his media briefing afterwards. He talked about the noise all over the course and how he could not ignore it. But he said that he knew if he rolled the birdie putt in on the 13 th that he was virtually home and hosed.
    A champagne moment as he was now making news all across the globe as golf’s new number one player. Luke Donald immediately tweeted him a message of congratulations which read: ‘Congratulations. Enjoy the view!’
    The response from Rory in tweets, newspapers and with friends was always the same: he stated that ‘it might only be for 15 minutes’; ‘it won’t last long’ and that he was only ‘keeping the position warm’ for Luke.
    Nevertheless, it was a monumental moment. World No 1 status is a feat that only the true greats of the game achieve. This is one area that there can never be anything lucky or fluky about it. It is earned through hard work, skill and, above all, consistency.
    Since the USPGA in August 2011, he played in 11 ranking events and finished outside the top five in only one of them. That was the sort of top drawer form that won him this coveted accolade. When asked what it meant to him he replied:
    It means an awful lot to be able