The thing about Rory McIlroy — the new and richly-deserving world number one of our sport — that impresses me most is that he is willing to learn all the time.

Often accused of losing too many tournaments in the past because of his overtly aggressive style of golf, his final round at the Honda Classic last Sunday was a masterclass in how not to give it away.

Only last week, at the World Golf Championship-Accenture Match Play, he let go a fantastic opportunity to go top of the world rankings when he lost in the final to Hunter Mahan. I completely believed it when he said he gave it his all in an effort to defeat Lee Westwood in the semi-finals and could not lift himself mentally for the final.

As I said last week, McIlroy's motivation to beat Westwood, and his reaction on accomplishing that, was completely understandable. But it was still a mistake. It was like some rookie professional playing a third round of a tournament with Tiger Woods, and he plays out of his socks because he is so pumped up playing against the greatest player of all time. And then, having put himself in contention, he struggles during the final round. Simply put, he did not get the job done.

But not this Sunday. the way McIlroy played the last six holes of the PGA National was copybook stuff. It wasn't regulation golf for sure, but it was all about hanging tough in the face of adversity.

Believe me, there is no adversity greater in modern golf than facing a rampant Tiger. And the 14-time Major champion put up a great show on Sunday with his 62 to put immense pressure on Rory. When he made that fantastic eagle on the 18th hole to cut Rory's lead to just one shot, not many would have reacted the way the Ulsterman did.

The birdie on the 13th was just the beginning of his stunning reply, but more important were the three pars he saved from precarious positions over the next four holes, including the infamous stretch of the ‘Bear Trap'. He could have easily played to the gallery on the par-five 18th and gone for an eagle of his own, but he decided in favour of a regulation par, which was extremely smart thinking and showed his new way of thinking on the golf course.

There is no argument who has been the hottest player on this planet the last six months or so, and I am glad he is also the world number one now. And considering Rory is just 22, this could well be the start of another Tiger-like run on top of the world rankings.

 

Jeev Milkha Singh is a three-times winner on the European Tour.