Toying with his opponents had come to an end. That seems an exaggeration of Rory McIlroy’s standing and prowess in professional golf, given the past few years have been noted not for what he has done so much as what almost was.

Leave it to Rory McIlroy to make the second day of February feel as though the second week of April were right around the corner. That’s bound to happen when a player of his immense talent — and deficiencies when it comes to the Masters — delivers a sublime performance on a special stage like Pebble Beach ,