If I were not getting paid to give heed, I might suggest Jack Nicklaus was still the king of golf, with this Tiger Woods kid making some nosie.

Never been a golf fan, that is. Never watch the game, if I can help it. Neither in person nor on television.

So if I know more than a little about Rory McIlroy — and I do — he must be pretty remarkable. And he is.

At age 25, he has won four majors, all of them except the Masters. And the PGA twice.

Four major victories by age 25 has been done by exactly two guys in the past 100 years. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Yeah.

So, today, he had his best victory yet. He had led at Valhalla, in Louisville, going into the final round, but he fell three shots back on the front nine, and it looked like this was going to be about Henrik Stenson or the underappreciated Rickie Fowler.

Then Rory got it in gear, and took advantage of a couple of breaks (mis-hitting a 3 wood that never gained any altitude but rolled through wet grass all the way to the green) and hitting a ball that stopped about a yard short of the water.

But he made the shots, and that’s what special players do.

I may have noted on this site — OK, I did — that Rory’s surge, and this is three victories in three outings, including the British Open, coincides with his decision to break off his engagement with the tennis player Caroline Wozniacki. Before that, he hadn’t won on the PGA Tour in 18 months.

Anyway, now he’s won a major under duress, as opposed to his first three — which were blowouts. So he can win from ahead of behind. Hmm.

And it is fair to wonder whether Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major titles is now under a bigger threat from McIlroy than it is an increasingly broken down Tiger Woods. Who has 14 but hasn’t won one since 2008.

This Rory guy is pretty good, if I’ve heard of him.