Justin Rose’s breakthrough win at the US Open could open the door for England’s golden generation of golfers to finally make their collective mark in the record books.
Rose, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Lee Westwood have long starred on the Ryder Cup stage and Donald and Westwood have risen to top the world rankings.
But until Merion Golf Club on Sunday, none of them had been able to lift one of the sports’s four major titles - the US and British Opens, the Masters and the PGA Championship.
The pressure on one of them to finally deliver on the biggest of stages was cranking up with each passing major.
Ulstermen Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke joined the club of major winners as did young Americans Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson and South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.
Still the English trophy cupboard remained empty and, prior to Merion, no Englishman had won a US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970 and none had won a major since Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters.