First came the vulnerability over many years. Then the outpouring of emotion at the Masters – Rory McIlroy allowing us to witness one of the most intimate moments in sports for decades.
Completing the grand slam and slipping on that green jacket banished the demons after so much heartache – that Augusta collapse; freezing at Royal Portrush before the Open had barely begun; stumbling over 18 holes on Sunday at St Andrews as Cam Smith snuck up on him; and then the torture of Pinehurst No. 2 last year.