Rory McIlroy, Masters champion. Easy to write, hard to believe. Especially after a Sunday when drama rained down from the towering pines and an inspired Justin Rose threatened to ruin the coronation, only eventually submitting in a play-off.
Yet with three iron shots – on the 15th, 17th and on that first extra hole – that rank up there with the very best and bravest in the game’s annals, McIlroy claimed what for so long has been considered his birthright.
More than a decade after he had won his most recent major, the 35-year-old at last chalked up number five and so became just the sixth male player in history to complete the career grand slam – and the first European.