6.45pm: Unlike Augusta, when McIlroy kept fans abreast of his movements morning, noon and night, the 22-year-old took a vow of Twitter silence this weekend. Arriving at the course, he reveals a dinner date with Lee Westwood, tied for third, on Saturday night. Any words of wisdom from his stablemate? “No, definitely not,” he concedes. “I’ve gotta take care of my business and take care of myself. If I can do that, I’ll be very hard to beat.”
7.50pm:Amid all the best wishes flooding in for McIlroy on Twitter is this bizarre request from the British Embassy in Washington DC to his manager Chubby Chandler. "Calling @chubby6665 - we'd like to get in touch with @McIlroyRory ASAP. Im told youre the man to ask ... Can you help?". Surely British Embassy officials don't resort to Twitter on a regular basis. Do they?
8.20pm:And so it begins. McIlroy makes the perfect start, rolling in the first birdie of the day after a flawless opening hole. Christina Kim, she of the understated opinions, is clearly impressed. Im sorry to everyone that won't appreciate this, but in regards to Rory's birdie on the first. F**k. That's all that can be said. Magic.
9pm:Sheer brilliance from McIlroy at the fourth. Another three wood puts him in Position A on the fairway and he knocks his wedge to four feet. From there, the birdie putt is a formality and all of a sudden we're 16-under par. Yes, 16-under. "I don't think usain bolt could catch @RoryMcIlroy today," muses fellow Ulsterman Mark Allen.
10.20pm:Genius. The shot of the day as his six iron to the 10th comes to rest inches from the hole. "You don't play this well, even on Playstation," according to Colin Montgomerie in the Sky Sports booth. Never had Monty pegged as a gamer, but there you go. "I almost just pooped myself thinking Rors was going to ace the 10th hole," announces Kim.
11pm:The merest of stumbles in the procession as a bogey goes on the card at 12. Whatever about the British Embassy, bookers for Leno and Letterman needn't bother getting in touch. "Rory doesn't want to do it and Im not interested in flogging him around American chatshows," states Chandler.
11.25pm:"There's a young curly haired kid out there going crazy on us." Graeme McDowell, after finishing on two under in a creditable defence of his title, tells it as it is. "Take a bow son," adds Shane Lowry.
11.55pm:Back to 17 under with a birdie at the 16th hole. Sky's cameras catch up with Gerry McIlroy, Rory's father, who is having a Father's Day he'll never forget, just off the 16th fairway. "I'm absolutely lost for words," he says of his son's feats. "It's great."
12.30am:And there you have it. McIlroy becomes the first Irishman to win the US Open since last June. A three-putt at the 17th, his first of the week, takes him back to 16-under but it's a total that is unlikely to be bettered. Ever, if the USGA have their way.
“This Rory McIlroy business has only been made better by that Gerard Butler eye make-up ad,” reckons Dara Ó Briain. Quite.
