What with winning his second tournament in three weeks in North Carolina last week before boarding a private jet to fly him through the night to London, Rory McIlroy initially struggled to take in the previous 24 hours, never mind the last year.

But, after an appearance at a sponsor’s event in Regent Street, the Ulsterman was able to reflect on 12 staggering months that began with him calling off an impending wedding and finished with him creating a huge gap to his nearest rival.

Without wishing to sound cruel or flippant about his break-up with Caroline Wozniacki, it would be tempting to view McIlroy as a fine advertisement for the single life. The truth is, he is now in another relationship, but the bells are hardly clanging in the distance.

Rather, it is the US Open beckoning and, after Chambers Bay in four weeks, there is the Open and then the USPGA. And he restated at the Wells Fargo Championship last week that, despite the recent Boy’s Own heroics of Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, he remains the undisputed No. 1.

Maybe it is just coincidence (and let us recognise that McIlroy and Wozniacki were an item when he shot to the top of the rankings in 2012) but having won only once in the 18 months before the split, he has proceeded to win seven times in the year since. In this period, he has won almost twice as many world-ranking points as his closest pursuer, Spieth.

In his last 19 starts, he has won six times, and finished in the top five 12 times and the top 10 15 times.

His seven-stroke triumph at Quail Hollow was a microcosm of his current dominance. “I’ve gone on runs of form before, but nothing like this for this amount of time,” McIlroy said.

“Seven titles in 12 months, and there’s been a few majors and a few WGCs in there as well. It’s the consistency that’s been the thing that’s marked out this spell. Like I said after Quail Hollow, I’m firing on all cylinders.”

What a difference in scenarios as he approached this weekend’s BMW PGA Championship this time around. On the Sunday before the tournament last year, he and Wozniacki, the Danish tennis star, had sent out the invites to their November nuptials in New York. Suddenly, he decided he could not go ahead with it.

Phones rang, jaws dropped. It transcended golf.

On Wednesday morning, he sent out a statement that announced the end of their engagement. A few hours later he faced the press. With his head bowed and his hands shaking, McIlroy said he would honour his commitment to play at the European Tour’s flagship event.

During an excruciating 10 minutes, he looked incapable of walking 18 holes, never mind contending. But somehow he came through, shooting a final-round 66 to triumph despite a seven-shot overnight deficit.

“In a way, it probably actually helped as I couldn’t wait to get on the golf course. It was my sanctuary, where I could get away from everything,” McIlroy said.

“I had five hours to focus on golf and getting the ball in the hole. And I proved to myself that, on a course where I hadn’t done well, I could win. That was important, particularly with the circumstances and everything.

“Of course, every win is important, but I would put Wentworth right up there.”

Fatigue might be the biggest obstacle preventing him repeating the trick. McIlroy was his usual, charming self as he fulfilled his obligations at Niketown, his sponsors’ flagship store.

Chris Kamara, the former footballer turned Sky Sports jester, rattled through a Q&A and McIlroy gave an insight into his hectic existence.

“This has been a great momentum-builder going into the thick of the season. We’ve got three majors coming up and I don’t feel like my game has ever been better,” McIlroy said. “But, saying that, perhaps last summer I was playing a little better. Putted well, chipped well, everything was really on.

“I still feel there’s a couple of little areas of my game I can sharpen up on. But it’s very close. And it’s good to have that bit of improvement to find.”

“Rory golf”, as team McIlroy refer to it, can be perfected only when there is an absence of burden between the ropes, when life off the course is not distracting him.

Interestingly, he admits that the pressure got to him leading up to Augusta, when his sport and beyond wondered if he could complete the career grand slam and set up a shot at the ‘McIlroy slam’, by which he would have held each title simultaneously.

He is glad that pressure has passed. “I’m not going to lie. There was a lot of expectation going into Augusta, a lot of hype,” McIlroy said. “It was a great opportunity to do something that very few players in this game have done.

“Since then I guess a bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders and freed me up and allowed me not to think about it and just to go out there and play.”

Indeed, just like he did at Wentworth last year.

— The Daily Telegraph