Ryder Cup 2012: Rory McIlroy leaves it late to make his point in style by downing rising star Bradley Keegan When you are the golden child of golf, the cards just seem to fall your way. Had he been just one minute late for his 11.25 start, he would have forfeited his match, and Bradley would have been awarded the point by default. Only a police escort saved him from one of the most embarrassing moments of his career, the product of getting his time zones mixed up and arriving an hour late. What was more astonishing was how long it apparently took the European team to realise they had somehow mislaid the world's best golfer. "We did start to get a bit nervous when we were hanging around the locker room and then someone realised Rory was not there," captain José María Olazábal said. We had a look around for him, and then called to see where he was. Of course it would have been bad if he had missed it, but it all worked out and he got here just in time. It later transpired that McIlroy's phone was set to Eastern Time. With Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola watching from the gallery and the jeers of the American fans ringing in his ears ("Central Time Zone," they chanted), McIlroy stepped up and promptly drilled his tee shot way into the right rough, where it became entangled in a hefty clump of television cables. But a sublime approach at the fourth set up a simple birdie putt, and he chipped in at the sixth to go two up. Orchestrated by the exuberant Bradley, the galleries still heckled him wherever he went. "Glad you're here," they were shouting. The match was shifting to and fro. Bradley holed a tricky 12-footer at the eighth to go one down. McIlroy followed suit at the ninth. But as they turned for home, Bradley was finding a second wind. He was still avoiding the green like an unwelcome relative, but an up-and-down at the 10th was enough to pull one hole back. McIlroy was clinging on now, a six-foot putt saving par at the 11th. But his luck finally ran out at the 12th, when a sudden gust of wind took a grip of his chip, leaving it 14 feet short. Bradley squared the match with a solid chip of his own. McIlroy reclaimed the lead at the 14th when Bradley put himself into the trees on the right, without a clear line to the flag, before chipping straight into a bunker. He did not flirt at all with the dangerous water to the right of the driveable par-four 15th, safely laying up with an iron. Bradley, too, decided to take the water out of the equation, but sent his drive way out to the left, nuzzling up against the tented village. In any case, McIlroy's delightful wedge to within two feet was too good. By now, McIlroy was doing what he does best, what he had done at Congressional last year and Kiawah Island last month - closing the deal on a Sunday afternoon, not giving his pursuer a sniff. Without blinking, he holed out for par at the 16th and put his tee shot at the 17th firmly onto the green. Within minutes, it was time for handshakes. Bradley has enjoyed a superb Ryder Cup debut, but this was McIlroy's moment. He took his bow and swiftly went off to support his team-mates, in no doubt of Europe's capacity to pull off an unlikely comeback. "There was a lot of positivity in there last night," he said, "especially the way we finished." Those bemoaning his timekeeping might well remember that this was not the first time he had turned up late for a crucial round of golf. At the final round of a tournament last month, he arrived with only just enough time to do a cursory 25 minutes of practice, went straight out and won by eight strokes. That tournament was the US PGA at Kiawah, his second major victory. Perhaps he should disable his alarm clock for good.