Rory McIlroy suggests the big difference which led to his superb final round at the BMW PGA Championship

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Rory McIlroy put on a real show for those at Wentworth on Sunday with the Northern Irishman posting a 65 in the final round of the BMW PGA Championship.

Heading into the last day at the BMW PGA Championship, it seemed that Rory McIlroy had left himself with too much to do as he looked to win the flagship event on the DP World Tour for a second time.

The 36-year-old began the day 10 shots back of the lead. But clearly, McIlroy was in no mood to simply go through the motions in his final tournament before the Ryder Cup.

McIlroy made five birdies and two eagles in his round of 65 to fly up the leaderboard. It was his best round of the week by four shots.

Rory McIlroy reacts to his excellent final round at the BMW PGA Championship

McIlroy had played himself out of contention with rounds of 72 and 70 on Friday and Saturday respectively. Much of the damage had actually been done on the par fives, with the five-time major champion playing the final two holes in four over par heading into Sunday.

But after playing those same holes in three under par in the last round, McIlroy expressed his delight at ending the week on a high.

“I think you enjoy yourself a bit more when you play like that instead of the way I played the first three days. But yeah, I played the par fives much better. That was the difference between the first three days and today. I’ve played the par fives in six under, which I think got me back to under par for the par fives for the week,” he said.

“But, yeah, I played much better. And yeah, obviously a really nice way to sign off the week, last competitive round going into the Ryder Cup. So nice to finish on a high.”

Rory McIlroy looks ahead to the Ryder Cup after his last round at Wentworth

It has been nearly impossible to not think about the upcoming Ryder Cup with so many members of the two teams in action on either side of the Atlantic this week.

Only Sepp Straka from the European side is not playing at Wentworth. And Luke Donald’s side will head off for a practice trip to Bethpage once the tournament concludes.

And McIlroy explained how the preparations for the event later this month are already well underway with much of the European team in attendance in Surrey.

“I think we definitely are getting into Ryder Cup mode. We had a really good team dinner on Tuesday night with the caddies, and the wives and the partners were there, as well. We’re getting ready to go on this practice trip tonight to New York,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of talk and a lot of chat and a lot of thinking about the Ryder Cup. But you still want to play well this week. I saw glimpse of that. There was a lot of birdies and eagles and just a few too many bogeys and double-bogeys to have a chance to win but overall, happy with the week and obviously very excited for what’s to come in a couple weeks’ time.”

Donald will know that McIlroy’s performance at Wentworth will count for little by the time the opening tee shot is hit at Bethpage. But his final round definitely still felt like a statement of intent from The Masters champion.