Evidence of Rory Mcllroy's exalted status can arrive when you least expect. Ask him, for example, if anyone out of the ordinary got in touch in the aftermath of his excruciating conclusion to the US Open. McIlroy does not disappoint. "Rafa Nadal and Michael Jordan," he says.
"Two of the most unbelievable competitors that have ever been in sport. MJ was maybe the first person to text me after I missed the putt on the 18th but both of them got in touch very, very quickly.
"They just told me to keep going. MJ reminded me of how many game-winning shots he missed. Really nice." Nadal and Jordan can therefore be counted among those who watched through their fingers as McIlroy conceded the third major of the year to Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy bogeyed three of the last four holes at Pinehurst. A fifth major title and first since 2014 had been within his grasp; it slipped in circumstances many feared would define this part of his career.
McIlroy begs to differ and his tone is noticeably upbeat. "Was it a great opportunity to win a major? Absolutely," he says. "It hurt and in the moment it was tough, terrible.
"I'd say people would be surprised to see how quickly I got over it and moved on."
He has looked back on "what I needed to watch" from television coverage.
That means the good and the bad.
None of this is to suggest the 35-year-old denies commentators the right to assess what happened.
Dogs in the street have a view on what McIlroy should have done differently as DeChambeau lurked.
He has just long since conditioned himself not to heed the noise.
"I can't," he says. "I can't pay attention to that.
"Maybe the one drawback from me not talking [to media] afterwards was that you got three weeks of speculation. 'He should have done this, should have done that but we will never know because he didn't say. I trust the people around me. I don't need to go looking for external counsel.
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