It's hard to think of a time when Rory McIlroy's stock was higher than it was just after the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
The Northern Irishman had just won his fourth tournament of the season - two of which were Major championships.
His dual triumphs at the Open and the PGA had him on four Majors at the age of just 25 - but they have dried up since then.
As the PGA Championship returns to Valhalla this week, McIlroy's comments after the 2014 tournament give a strange feeling, with anticipation high yet again that he can finally break his Major duck.
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Revisiting Rory McIlroy's post-PGA Championship interview from 2014
It was one of the most memorable finishes to a Major in recent times. With barely any light remaining over the Valhalla course, Rory McIlroy battled to a final round 68 and a one-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson - a man who would, in years to come, become a bitter rival.
It was Major number four for Rory, his second in succession, and confirmed he would stay at the top of the world rankings. The Guardian's report heralded it thus: "This is Rory's time. The dawning of a new golfing era." They were not alone in that sentiment.
Immediately after claiming victory, McIlroy spoke to the press. Reflecting on his golden summer, he looked ahead to Augusta in 2015, where he would have the chance to complete the career Grand Slam at just 25 years old.
I said I thought winning The Open Championship a few weeks ago had sort of put me on a higher level in this game. But then to win a fourth major here, to be one behind Phil, one behind Seve, level with Ernie, level with Raymond Floyd; I mean, I never thought I'd get this far at 25 years of age.
It's something that I'm just going to have to come to terms with in a way and just‑‑ yeah, I mean, I was happy being a two‑time major championship coming into this year, and all of a sudden I'm a four‑time Major champion and going for the career Grand Slam at Augusta in 292 days, 291 days or whatever it is; not that I'm counting.
I guess - I think I'll turn my attention to Augusta at the start of the 2015 season. I don't have to think about it that much until then. The body of work that I try and do between sort of January and March of each season is all geared towards getting myself ready for Augusta.
By the time January 2015 rolls around, I'll be thinking of Magnolia Lane and I'll be thinking about trying to slip on a green jacket for that fifth major.
The wait has now extended to 3,567 days as of tee-time on Thursday.
McIlroy remains on four Majors, with a handful of heartbreaks all he has to show from golf's "big four" over the decade since his outstanding PGA triumph of 2014 - arguably his finest since the destruction of the field at the 2011 US Open for his maiden Major victory.
Augusta is, of course, the monkey on Rory's back. Time and again he has gone to the Masters as the centre of attention, with fans hoping against hope he may finally get the career Grand Slam over the line. As the years have progressed, the hope has changed to simply adding another Major of any variety.
When he triumphed at Valhalla in 2014, comparisons were made (not for the first time) to golf's greatest ever, 18-time Major champion Jack Nicklaus and 14-time Major champion Tiger Woods.
McIlroy had won four Majors by 25, only two fewer than Tiger had at the same age, and the same as Nicklaus. He attempted to take things in his stride when the gravity of the achievement was put to him immediately after the 2014 PGA Championship.
I think I've got to take it one small step at a time. I think the two next realistic goals are the career Grand Slam, and trying to become the most successful European player ever. So Nick Faldo, most successful European ever in the modern era‑‑ Nick Faldo has six. Seve has five.
I try and put all this talk aside every time it comes up, but Tiger and Jack are two of the most successful players in our sport of all time. I'm on a nice track at the minute and I'm on a nice path. I've still got a long way to go, but to be in their company at this age is very special.
That Tiger has now added a 15th Major and won more recently than McIlroy (at Augusta, no less) is another cruel irony of the past decade.
30 September 2016 Rory McIlroy of Europe and USA vice-captain Tiger Woods on the 9th hole during the afternoon Fourball Match against Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar of USA at The 2016 Ryder Cup Matches at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, USA. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
"Cruel" may be a strong word to use for a man who has tasted more success than almost all from his generation but, for Rory at Majors over the past decade, it is not wide of the mark.
He has had four top-five finishes at Augusta, as well as four top-three finishes across the rest of the events without winning a single one. At the 2022 Open Championship, McIlroy surely became the first player in history to be in the outright lead going into the final day, hit every green in regulation, and not win the tournament. He finished third.
Part of this is of course down to McIlroy himself. Two-putting every green at that 2022 Open was on him, as was his inability to draw in the unheralded Wyndham Clark on the back nine at the US Open last year.
There's an obvious sign across many of his near misses from the past decade that McIlroy is putting pressure on himself to win every time he plays at a Major (especially at Augusta).
At the time of Valhalla 2014, McIlroy seemed almost carefree and genuinely excited about his drive for the fifth Major and the career Grand Slam. He did not appear weighed down by the pressure of what would have been an immense achievement.
His failure to get it over the line in the years since then now appears to have the inverse effect, weighing him down almost every time he is in the mix on the Sunday of a Major.
St. Andrew's in 2022 was a prime example of this, with McIlroy putting himself in what appeared to be an unassailable position before coming up short at the most pivotal stage when a major mental response was needed.
In the time since Rory last won a Major, Brooks Koepka has won five, despite not having as many top-ten finishes. He has that killer instinct to strike when he's near the top, something McIlroy has been lacking over the past decade.
It is that persistent "close but no cigar" feeling that has left many fans (somewhat unfairly) labelling McIlroy a "bottler." And, yes, it is immensely frustrating to see him come up short time and time again. But he's been close so many times that you feel - or maybe you hope - that he surely has to get over the line sooner rather than later.
In a strange twist of fate, as the golfing world ponders ten years without a Rory McIlroy Major win, the PGA Championship returns this weekend to the site of his famous 2014 triumph.
It's easy to get carried away with the Rory hype train. Lord knows this author can't help but be swept up by McIlroy fever every time Augusta rolls around, only to take a 2000s Liverpool-esque stance of "Next year will be our year" after round one.
30 September 2023; Rory McIlroy of Europe celebrates a putt on the 15th hole during the morning foursomes on day two of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
But there's an undeniable romance about the idea of the drought ending at the same place it began. And the coincidences a decade on are eyebrow-raising. Not only is the venue the same, but he is also once again up towards the top of the world rankings and entering the tournament after back-to-back victories in his last two entries.
There has been turmoil in McIlroy's private life this week with the news of his impending divorce from Erica Stoll after seven years. Perhaps that will bring him "clarity," as Pádraig Harrington expects.
Off the course, there has been professional turmoil too, with McIlroy having to face wild rumours of a move to LIV, of a feud with Tiger Woods, and dealing with a rejected approach to rejoin the PGA Tour's policy board.
All of the above does not read like ideal preparation for a Major but there is that slight chance that it could take the pressure off what he does on the course. He did, after all, deliver some vintage Rory McIlroy golf last week in North Carolina, and last month in Louisiana.
Why do we do it? Why do we spend the buildup to just about every Major convincing ourselves that now is Rory's time? It wasn't his time at any of the 36 Majors since Valhalla 2014, what makes this time different?
There's just something about him that makes it impossible not to be swept up by the Rory McIlroy hype train. Because, when you look past all the failings and heartbreaks of the last ten years, there's one of the world's greatest golfers underneath. It's almost unfathomable that he's gone this long without winning one so surely this one's the one...right?
Perhaps Shane Lowry - his playing partner at the Zurich Classic - put it best ahead of tee-off at the PGA. When asked about the added hype around McIlroy in the buildup to this tournament, Lowry summed up the narrative that has surrounded his good friend during the last decade.
It's fickle, isn't it?
After the Masters everyone's wondering, 'is Rory McIlroy finished?' Now all of a sudden they're thinking he's the greatest thing since sliced pan.
Someone was talking to Harry about it after Sunday and he was asked, 'how far away do you reckon he is?' And Harry saidm 'he's never too far away.'
And he's not.
And he certainly is not. And if Rory McIlroy is there or thereabouts entering the weekend at Valhalla, the hype train will well and truly take off. We can only hope.
Rory McIlroy tees off at the PGA Championship at 1:15pm Irish time on Thursday alongside Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose.
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