HOYLAKE, England -- Walking off the 18th green as the British Open champion, Rory McIlroy kept gazing at all the greats on golfs oldest trophy. On the claret jug, his name is etched in silver below Phil Mickelson. In the record book, he is listed behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the youngest to get three legs of the career Grand Slam. And over four days at Royal Liverpool, he had no equal. "Im immensely proud of myself," McIlroy said after his two-shot victory Sunday that was never really in doubt. "To sit here, 25 years of age, and win my third major championship and be three-quarters of the way to a career Grand Slam ... yeah, I never dreamed of being at this point in my career so quickly." He had to work a little harder than he wanted for this one. Staked to a six-shot lead going into the final round, McIlroy turned back every challenge. He made two key birdies around the turn, and delivered a majestic drive at just the right moment to close with a 1-under 71 and complete his wire-to-wire victory. In another major lacking tension over the final hour, what brought The Open to life was the potential of its champion. After nearly two years of turmoil, McIlroy looked like the kid who shattered scoring records to win the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, and who won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island by a record eight shots a year later. Boy Wonder is back. Or maybe hes just getting started again. McIlroy won by two shots over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler to become the first start-to-finish winner since Woods at St. Andrews in 2005. Even with one major left this year, the Northern Irishman already is looking ahead to Augusta National next April for a shot at the slam. "Ive really found my passion again for golf," McIlroy said. "Not that it ever dwindled, but its what I think about when I get up in the morning. Its what I think about when I go to bed. I just want to be the best golfer that I can be. And I know if I can do that, then trophies like this are within my capability." McIlroy put an end to this major with a powerful drive down the fairway at the par-5 16th, setting up a two-putt birdie to restore his lead to three shots. He finished with two pars, tapping in for par on the 18th green. The hard part was trying not to cry when his mother, Rosie, came onto the green with tears streaming down her face. She was not at the other two majors. Before leaving, McIlroy turned and applauded the fans in the horseshoe arena who were witness to another masterpiece. This could have been another romp except for a shaky stretch early for McIlroy, and solid efforts from Garcia and Fowler. Garcia pulled within two shots with four holes to play until he put his tee shot in a pot bunker just right of the 15th green. His first shot failed to get over the 4-foot sodden wall and rolled back into the sand. He made bogey, and two birdies over the final three holes were not enough. Garcia shot 66 and was runner-up in a major for the fourth time. "I think that we gave it a good effort," Garcia said. "And there was someone a little bit better." Fowler, playing in the final group for the second straight major, didnt do anything wrong. He just didnt do enough right to make up a six-shot deficit. Fowler played without a bogey, made three birdies on the last four holes and shot 67. "He played awesome," Fowler said. "And it was just kind of fun to throw a few shots at him coming. To see him win was pretty cool." It was the first time two straight majors were won wire to wire. Martin Kaymer did it last month at Pinehurst No. 2, taking the U.S. Open by eight shots. McIlroy, who finished at 17-under 271, wasnt the only big winner Sunday. Ten years ago, his father and three of his friends each put up 100 pounds ($170) at 500-1 odds that McIlroy would win the British Open before he turned 26. The kid made good on the best with a brand of golf that had him marked early as golfs next great player. McIlroy moved up to No. 2 in the world, perhaps on his way to regaining the No. 1 ranking that once looked as if it would be his for years. He ended the 2012 season by winning his second major and capturing the money title on the PGA Tour and European Tour. Since then, the road has been bumpier than some of the dunes at Hoylake. McIlroy signed a megadeal with Nike and switched out all his equipment. He changed management for the second time, leading to lawsuits that are still to be decided. And after getting engaged to Caroline Wozniacki on New Years Eve, he abruptly broke off the engagement in May with a telephone call. His path to victory in The Open was much smoother. McIlroy made back-to-back bogeys on the front nine and had to save par from a pot bunker to avoid a third. But he steadied himself with a birdie on the par-3ninth, and when Garcia made a 10-foot eagle ahead of him on the 10th to cut the lead to two, McIlroy answered with a two-putt birdie. Garcia blinked when he could least afford it, leaving a shot in the bunker at No. 15 as McIlroy watched from the tee. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., tied for 32nd place after shooting a 71. Jim Furyk was among four players who tied the course record with a 65 to finish fourth. Tiger Woods was long gone. He finished his 75 as McIlroy was still on the practice range. Woods finished 69th -- his worst finish over 72 holes in any major -- and wound up 23 shots behind, his largest deficit ever in a major. Adidas Prophere Kopen . The CFL unveiled its 2014 schedule Wednesday and the Redblacks will play their first-ever regular-season game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers on July 3. Adidas NMD Heren Sale . Pistorius mindset when he stood on his stumps in a bathroom and pulled the trigger on his 9 mm pistol in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013 remains the crux of the South African trial that has captured worldwide attention and is about to start its seventh week of globally televised proceedings. It was initially scheduled to run for three weeks. http://www.nmdtekoop.com/ultra-boost-sneakers.html. Canadas 5-1 loss to Finland in the semifinal ranks as the tournaments most-watched game with a record 2.7 million viewers, the largest ever for a World Juniors game played outside of North America, and winning Saturday as the most-watched program on Canadian television. Adidas Ultra Boost Uncaged Kopen . PETERSBURG, Fla. Adidas NMD R1 Kopen . -- Alex Anthopoulos spoke volumes with what he didnt say on right-hander Ervin Santana.DENVER -- Shortstop Pete Kozma could see the situation coming, his chance in the 15th inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a hard-fought victory. The Colorado Rockies intentionally walked Yadier Molina with one out and runners on first and third to load the bases for Kozma. Batting against Rob Scahill, Kozma grounded into a double play. Corey Dickersons RBI triple with one out in the bottom of the inning gave the Rockies a 7-6 victory in a marathon that lasted 5 hours, 9 minutes. "Hes a good sinkerball pitcher," Kozma said of Scahill. "Faced him a couple times in the minors. I was just looking for something to get up and drive. I had something to hit and didnt do anything with it." What Kozma did was fire his helmet to the ground in disgust. He entered the game hitting just .218 but with a .324 average with runners in scoring position. It is rare for Kozma to show emotion, but this was not just any clutch situation. "Game on the line," Kozma said. "The game lasts six hours or however long it lasted. Everybody was feeling something, especially at that point." Charlie Blackmon finished with four hits and Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton homered for the Rockies in tying the second-longest game in Coors Field history. Matt Holliday had three hits for the Cardinals, who had their NL Central Division lead over Pittsburgh trimmed to one game. The Pirates beat San Diego 10-1 on Thursday. DJ LeMahieu started the winning rally with a one-out single to right. Dickerson then drilled a line drive into the right-field corner as LeMahieu rounded the bases. The relay from second baseman Matt Carpenter beat LeMahieu but catcher Molina couldnt control the ball as LeMahieu crawled to touch home. It was Dickersons second triple of the game and sixth of the season. In the first inning, Helton tagged out Carpenter at first with the hidden-ball trick. After Roy Oswalt threw to first, Helton feigned a throw back to the mound and tagged Carpenter when he stepped off the bag to end the inning. The teams traded late-game rallies. Helton, who struck out with the bases loaded to end Wednesdays game, turned on Edward Mujicas fastball Thursday, drove an 0-1 offering into the Rockies bullpeen to lead off the ninth and tie it at 6-all.dddddddddddd It was Mujicas fourth blown save in 41 chances. Holliday hit his former team hard, going 8 for 21 with a home run, four walks and four RBIs in the series. He reached base in six straight at-bats Thursday and was poised to be the hero with his RBI single in the ninth before Helton tied it with his 14th home run of the season. It was part of a back-and-forth that saw the Cardinals rally from four runs down but blow two late leads. Trailing 4-0, the Cardinals got within a run in the fourth. Oswalt walked the first two batters, Carlos Beltran singled to score Jon Jay and Holliday came home on a sacrifice fly. Tony Cruz doubled off the wall in left to make it 4-3. Holliday tied it at 4-all with an RBI single in the fifth. David Freese gave the Cardinals a 5-4 lead in the eighth with an RBI double to centre, but Colorado tied it in the bottom of the inning on Dickersons two-out triple. Helton helped the Rockies take an early lead with a leadoff double in the second, his 588th career two-bagger. He moved to third on Charlie Culbersons infield single and scored on Yorvit Torrealbas blooper to right. Culberson scored on a double play to make it 2-0. Tulowitzkis two-run homer in the third made it 4-0. It was his 23rd of the season. Cardinals starter Michael Wacha had a curious Coors Field debut. He allowed four runs and 12 hits but no walks with seven strikeouts in 4 2-3 innings. "Plain and simple, I gave up too many hits," Wacha said. "And I didnt put our team in a good position to win a game. I feel it all starts with the starting pitcher, and I just wasnt able to get guys out there for a while and gave up entirely way too many hits." NOTES: Cardinals 1B Matt Adams (right elbow soreness) did not start but came into the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth. He singled in the ninth and was replaced by a pinch-runner. ... Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer (left wrist, forearm) was out of the lineup but hopes to play Friday. ... RHP Shelby Miller (14-9) will open the Cardinals weekend series in Milwaukee on Friday. ... RHP Jhoulys Chacin (13-9) will start the first game of Colorados series against Arizona on Friday. ' ' '