The sport never stops, does it? The final gold medal of London 2012 has just been decided in the women’s modern pentathlon and before the Olympic embers have even gone cold, we’ve a whole new shiny plaything to keep us occupied for the night. And it’s a good ‘un.

It’s the final round of the golf season’s last major, the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, and Rory McIlroy might never have a better chance to add to his 2011 US Open title. He leads by three shots from Carl Pettersson but there’s a host of top names swarmed behind waiting to pounce. I probably don’t need to remind you that we’ve been here before with Irish hopes on the final day of a major.

Rory, Pettersson and Bo van Pelt are out in the final grouping at 6.45pm and we’ll be here to keep you updated on all of the action until the bitter end.

Here’s how the leaderboard looks: -7 McIlroy; -4 Pettersson; -3, Immelman, Scott, van Pelt.

Of the other Irish, Graeme McDowell is on -1 after a par at the first while Padraig Harrington has opened his final round with a bogey to drop back to level par.

“Nothing to gain and everything to lose,” chirps Colin Montgomerie as McIlroy ambles towards the first tee-box. If you’re in need of sunny optimism, you know where to go tonight.

There is more at stake for McIlroy than just a second major title. If he wins or finishes outright in second place, he will leapfrog Luke Donald and Tiger Woods to become world number one once more.

Speaking of Tiger, he’s five shots back on two-under after closing out his third round with a 74 this morning.

Graeme McDowell is moving in the right direction. He’s just rolled in for a birdie on the par-five second to move to two-under and a tie for eighth place.

HERE’S RORY: Our final group of McIlroy, Pettersson and van Pelt take to the first tee, a 396-yard par four. Another massive few hours in the young career of Rory McIlroy start here.

That’ll do nicely for Rory. Straight and sensible to find the first fairway. Van Pelt follows him down but Pettersson looks to be in the rough.

McDowell has a chance for a birdie at three. His line is good but he just underhits it slightly and it trots up three or four feet short. That should be a handy enough par and G-Mac will be happy with how he’s started off.

From 120 yards, Rory plays his approach into the second and it’s all good, bar a tiny bit of backspin which takes it away from the cup and down towards the front of the green. Steady as she goes.

Poulter Watch: Hello Ian Poulter, nice of you to join us. It’s a birdie-birdie-birdie start for the Englishman and he’s up to four-under and into a tie for second.

Peter Hanson gives Tiger the read on a long eagle putt at the par-five second… and it just misses, staying an inch or two on the high side as the big man drops to his knees. He thought that was in. Still, Tiger’s on the march and moves to -3.

Rory rolls his birdie putt to within a few inches and that’ll do nicely for an opening par. Pettersson and van Pelt follow him with pars apiece as well.

Leaderboard: -7 McIlroy (1); -4 Pettersson (1), Poulter (3)

Justin Rose has already had three birdies in six holes to clamber back up to level par. His chance for an eagle three at the par-five seventh is oh so close — but not close enough. Another shot picked up by J-Rose and he moves to -1.

Ooh, we have our first little bit of rules controversy. It seems that Carl Pettersson may have infringed while playing his second shot into the first. The thing is nobody seems too sure and hence nobody has told him yet. There could be a penalty coming yet.

BIRDIE MACHINE IAN POULTER! That’s four in a row now as Poulter’s dream start continues. He’s up to five-under now and just two shots off McIlroy’s lead. Is it time for Rory to start looking over his shoulder at the chasing pack yet?

Tiger Woods is doing his best to make a mickey of the third hole. He duffs his second shot way out the back and then misjudges the chip back onto the green.

Up ahead on four, McDowell has bogeyed to drop back to one-under.

Rory has to contend with a far-from-ideal downhill lie as he hits his second shot at two and… it’s… eh, where is it? McIlroy turns to caddy JP and asks if he’s seen where that one ended up but JP seems none the wiser either.

“In the trees” is Colm Montgomerie’s guess.

TIGER FIST PUMP: He nails a 15-footer to save a par from that shambles on three and that’ll keep him contention. It’s not ideal as most others have had birdies on that hole and Miguel Angel Jimenez has even had an eagle, but it’s a great putt nonetheless.

FIVE BIRDIES in a row for Ian Poulter. When you’re hot, you’re hot and Ian Poulter certainly isn’t leaving too many chances out there at the moment. He’s now one shot off McIlroy’s lead… and we still don’t know where Rory’s ball is.

Peter Hanson birdies three — his second birdie of the day — to move to -4.

Simply superb by Rory. He finds his ball which is nestled on some woodchip about 75 yards from the pin and he punches an absolute dinger onto the green, rolling to within a couple of feet. He’s been a bit all over the place here but he’ll still have a great chance for birdie.

All of Sky’s super-slo-mo technology is being trained on Carl Pettersson’s dubious second shot on the first hole. His drive was in a hazard and it looks as if he may have clipped a blade of grass or two on the backswing. If he has, he’s deemed to have grounded his club and will be given a penalty. But nobody seems to know what to do yet.

MCILROY BIRDIES: No less than he deserves after that brilliant third and now Rory has opened up a smidgen of breathing space between himself and Ian Poulter in second.

Pettersson has a par five but Bo birdies as well to join the chasing pack in joint-third.

Leaderboard: -8 McIlroy (2); -6 Poulter (5); -4 Walker (4), Hanson (3), Pettersson (2), van Pelt (2).

Adam Scott birdies the third hole to move into that bunch on -4. Is today the day he bounces back from his Open meltdown? McIlroy did it in the very next major after his Augusta horror show last year so there’s no reason to think that it’s beyond the Australian today.

On four, Tiger gets everything absolutely spot on with his birdie putt. As it slows into the jaws of the hole, it stops an agonizing half-roll short. The look on Tiger’s face is clear: “Why won’t you just go home?”

Rory’s got another tricky approach to figure out at three but he judges it just right to leave himself with a birdie chance.

And on six, the Poulter birdie express has finally come to a halt. Not by much, mind you, as the ball is just an inch or two to the right of the cup. It won’t be the last birdie chance he has today, you can bank on that.

BIRDIE FOR RORY! Oh yes, here we go. Rory reads his putt at three perfectly. It looks like it might stay high on the right but Rory knows better than I do and it drops in the side door for a three.

That’s a three-shot cushion now between McIlroy and the pack. Any early nerves should be well and truly settled.

Leaderboard: -9 McIlroy (3); -6 Poulter (6); -5 Pettersson (3); -4 Hanson (4), Scott (3), van Pelt (3)

Just when it was starting to look up for Carl Pettersson with a birdie at three, he’s finally been nailed with that two-shot penalty by the match referee. That was coming but they sure took their sweet time springing it on him.

Ian Poulter hasn’t been remotely deterred by that missed birdie chance at six. In fact, he’s just played a beaut into the seventh to leave himself with an eagle chance. If he sinks that, he’ll be seven-under through seven holes. Remarkable.

Quickly checking in with G-Mac and Padraig, they’re both one-under par through six today and tied for 17th.

Rory’s tee shot at four finds the fairway but he’s in a little bit of trouble as his approach finds one of those greenside bunkers high on the right side. At least it’s not plugged. Small mercies.

Poulter can’t make eagle at seven but there’s no problems with the birdie. That’s his sixth of the round and moves him to -7, closing the gap on Rory to two shots again.

You’re not getting much better than that from a greenside bunker. Rory knocks it up to within three or four feet and he won’t have any problems saving par from there. He’s done really well to withstand this early pressure, it must be said.

Some of that birdies streak is rubbing off from Poulter to G-Mac. McDowell follows his playing partner in for a bird of his own and moves back to -2.

A host of voices scream at Rory’s tee shot on five to “be right.” “BE RIGHT!”

It works as the ball pitches up just to the right of the greenside bunker it was obviously heading towards. It’s a tiny bit shorter than McIlroy would have liked but no issues there. The par threes have played notoriously hard this week but he should be able to save par again.

TROUBLE IN POULTER-DISE? He takes a bogey four at the eight and drops back to -6. That’s three off McIlroy who plays his second a yard or two past the hole but holds his nerve to make the par putt back.

Don’t mind the potato on the keyboard, I’m just fuelling up to make sure I don’t flag down the home stretch. Here’s your leaderboard:

Leaderboard: -9 McIlroy (5); -6 Poulter (8); -5 Pettersson (5); -4 Walker (7), Hanson (6), Scott (5).

Tiger’s dressed in red but he hasn’t been his usual ruthless Sunday self to this point. On the par-five seventh, his third is a little overhit but spins from the back of the green into birdie range. It’s not a gimme though and if Tiger wants to keep the pressure on, he can’t afford to let many more holes like this one slip by.

Tiger nails it! He sinks that birdie putt at seven and moves to four-under, five off McIlroy’s lead.

Padraig Harrington’s doing his bit to keep me away from my grub as well. He has back-to-back birds at seven and eight to move up to three-under and a tie for seventh. Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before.

At six, McIlroy’s birdie effort breaks a little bit too much from right to left and squeaks by the edge of the cup. It’s an opportunity missed but another safe par to consolidate his three-shot lead.

His closest pursuer, Ian Poulter, has just parred out for a front nine score of 31. It’s left him right in contention, one shot ahead of Pettersson who pars the sixth as well to stay on -5.

WEATHER WARNING: The organisers have just uttered the two words we least wanted to hear this evening (apart from “McIlroy chokes” obviously). The weather warning signs have just gone up on the 18th green and we could be in a spot of bother.

I’m guessing the early start time and three-ball final pairings were to minimize time delays in the hope of finishing the competition before the thunderstorms hit but we could be in trouble now. If you could turn towards South Carolina and blow in that general direction, it’d be much appreciated.

After handing back a shot at six, Adam Scott reclaims it on the very next hole. Four-under for the Australian.

And hang on a second, what’s this? Three-in-a-row for Harrington as he nails his birdie putt on nine. That’s 33 on the front nine for Paddy and he moves up to a tie for fourth.

BIRDIE FOR RORY! Oh boy, Rory is making these count now. A fabulous effort with his eagle putt on the seventh rolls up just short and he taps in for a birdie to move to -10. That will do nicely, thank you.

“He is murdering this course,” Colin Montgomerie says, “it’s like Congressional.” Here’s hoping.

Leaderboard: -10 McIlroy (7); -6 Poulter (9), Pettersson (7); -4 Harrington (9), Hansen (8), Woods (8), Scott (8).

No wobble off the eight tee box for McIlroy. His six-iron is struck true and plops down on the bottom tier of the green although it slows a little bit sooner than expected.

Carl Pettersson, who has rallied remarkably since that two-shot penalty early in the round, flirts with the bunker over to the right.

Ah, there’s the Mr Hyde side of Padraig Harrington’s game. I was wondering when that would rear its charmingly unpredictable head.

After closing out the front with three birdies on the bounce, Paddy’s tee shot on 10 lands in a load of rubbish. His second shot back out ends up in a bunker. Splendid. Just splendid.

Rory’s looooooong putt at eight comes to a stop about four foot short and he has one of those annoying little testers to save par and maintain his four-shot advantage. Which he does.

Carl Pettersson gets up and down from the bunker to stay in touch.

A word for Justin Rose who has continued his scramble up the leaderboard from +2. He’s six-under for the day and up to -4 for the tournament. Bo van Pelt picks up the final group’s only birdie on eight to join him there.

When your luck is out… Adam Scott looks to have a dead-cert birdie on the ninth but after looking into the cup, his ball decides it doesn’t quite fancy it and stays out. Four-under is where the Aussie stays.

Carl Pettersson really is having one of those days. His tee shot on the ninth is picked up by a small child with wandering hands (yes, you read that correctly). And so ensues another rules kerfuffle as the officials insist that Pettersson marks the ball, picks it up and replaces it. Apparently he can’t play the ball that was placed in that spot by a third party, in this case a child.

I can’t wait to see what happens on the back nine.

A birdie for Poulter on 11 takes him back to within three shots of McIlroy. It could be two shots very shortly as Rory is struggling to close out a bogey-free front nine.

Leaderboard: -10 McIlroy (8); -7 Poulter (11); -6 Pettersson (8); -4 Rose (14), Woods (9), Scott (9), van Pelt (8).

Colin Montgomerie is waffling on about golf “not being played on paper.” I’ve heard enough, I’m off to see if there’s anything good in the fridge.

But before I go dig out one of those DIY yoghurts where you mix the crunchy bits with the fruity bits and the yoghurty bits, a very important update. Rory McIlroy has rolled in that nervy par putt on nine to keep his card blemish-free. He’s out in 33 and leads Ian Poulter by three — but that could very easily have been a shot dropped there.

What a shot by Ian Poulter into 12. There’s no way in the world he meant to be so attacking — and if he did, he needs his head checked as that came dangerously close to the water —  but Poults has given himself a brilliant birdie chance. Rory’s lead could be cut down to two presently…

The dream is on for Poulter! His bravery / sheer lunacy is rewarded at 12 as he makes the birdie three. His putt hangs on the lip of the cup for an eternity before dropping but it does and, Olympic closing ceremony be damned, this just got interesting.

You probably don’t need me to remind you that us golf lovers are going up against the Olympic closing ceremony at the moment. We need to be strong and stick together, you hear?

Carl Pettersson’s mad, mad round continues. I think he just hit a spectator with his tee shot on 10. Although if there was some poor unfortunate out there, he can’t say that Pettersson didn’t give him or her fair warning — he sounded like Foghorn Leghorn as he called fore!

We knew it wasn’t going to be all plain sailing for McIlroy between here and the clubhouse and after that brilliant save on nine, he has to do it all over again. His tee shot at 10 finds an awful lie in the cabbage (note: not actual cabbage) and his feet were well above the ball as he played his second in. He gets away with it (ish) as it ends up in a greenside bunker. Definitely not the worst outcome.

YES RORY! That’s the shot! He committed 100% to his shot out of the greenside bunker, firing it at the hole — and he very nearly holed it. Two bounces out of the sand and it rolls to within a foot for a tap-in par. That’s two big saves in two holes now.

Where in the world is Ian Poulter? His second shot on 13 is a wild one and ends up in some kid’s back garden sandpit near enough to the green. You can see Poults’ maths brain whizzing as he sizes up his third and he cleverly plays the percentages, leaving himself with about 10 feet for par.

The 13th has claimed many a lesser man this week.

Pettersson makes a “professional” bogey five according to the Sky comms, and I know exactly what they mean. Translation: if it was me, I’d be on my fifth ball and third Mars bar before holing out.

Leaderboard: -10 McIlroy (10); -8 Poulter (12); -5 Rose (16), Pettersson (10).

DROPPED SHOT: Poulter pushes that par putt to the right and wide and lets out an audible growl as he bends down to pick the bogey stroke back out of the cup.

Up on 17, Justin Rose has made a bogey after finding the water. All in all, the leaderboard I provided you with about two minutes ago is now completely redundant.

Hey, it could be worse. I could be liveblogging the Spice Girls reunion in the Olympic Stadium. I hear One Direction were there too.*

*Not a joke.

Remember Tiger Woods? Yup, he’s still struggling. A bad bogey six on the par-five 11th is the latest in his long litany of woes.

The wheels are starting to come off ever so slightly for Ian Poulter, and with McIlroy saving par every which way at the moment, that could be enough to seal the deal. It’s looking like a bogey for Iano on 14 and McIlroy could turn it into a two-shot swing with birdie of his own at 11.

No birdie for Rory at 11 but Poulter does drop that shot. McIlroy now leads by four shots with seven holes to play and level par between here and the clubhouse will surely see him crowned PGA Champion 2012.

Justin Rose finishes a brilliant round of 66 with a par on 18 and he takes the clubhouse lead for now.

Leaderboard: -10 McIlroy (11); -6 Poulter (14); -5 Pettersson (11); -4 Rose (F), Bradley (15), Hanson (12), Scott (11), van Pelt (11).

Rory’s tee shot at 12 lands smack bang in the middle of the fairway. Not to jinx it or anything but this has been a textbook round by McIlroy and that elusive second major could be his very soon.

Poulter’s wobble looks like it might be about to continue at 15. Speaking to Sky Sports, Justin Rose warns Rory to beware the treacherous 13th. One-over between here and the finish line should be more than enough though, Rose says.

Graeme McDowell birdies 15 to move to -3 and into the top 10. Harrington is a shot back on -2 through 14 if you’re interested.

POULTER BOGEYS 15 and Rory McIlroy leads by five. And he has a great birdie chance coming up at 12 now as well to stretch that lead…

AND HE DOES IT! Rory looks every bit a winner as he adds a brilliant birdie three to his card at 12. The tricky 13th is next but he’s built up a huge cushion at this stage with six holes to play.

To be fair to Tiger, he’s trying his best but the breaks just aren’t going his way. A long, long birdie putt at 15 is tantalisingly close but like so many other shots today, it just won’t drop for Woods.

To the untrained eye, Rory’s radar appears to be slightly off as he hits his second into 13 but my finely tuned golf brain (*cough*) knows better than that. He steers clear of the icky-looking water to the right and instead heads towards the bunkers on the left. He pitches up in between the sand traps and will be able to attack the pin from there.

“AW, COME ON WIND!” Now even the elements are messing with Tiger as he hits his approach into 15. Does nobody have any respect for greatness any more?

Poulter takes two putts on 16 for a par five. He won’t be making up too much more ground on McIlroy so barring an Augusta-esque implosion, you may pack your bags and start heading for the door.

If you’re not enjoying Rory’s processional march, you may be pleased to learn that you’re not watching the Olympic closing ceremony. Apparently Ed Sheeran is covering Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here as I type. Gimme a routine par four any day of the week…

Oh look, there’s Russell Brand dressed up as Willy Wonka or something like that. Anyway, speaking of routine par fours, Rory has done just that, making a complete and utter mockery of the 13th’s “difficult” tag.

Is the Curse of Wozniacki about to be banished to the history books?

As we head for the clubhouse, here’s your leaderboard.

Leaderboard: -11 McIlroy (13); -5 Poulter (16), Pettersson (13); -4 Rose (F), Bradley (17), van Pelt (13).

Over on Sky, Ewen Murray and Colin Montgomerie are so bored watching McIlroy’s march, they’ve started picking through the options of Jose Maria Olazabal’s yet-to-be-named Ryder Cup team. They’re missing a masterclass but they don’t seem worried.

Rory’s play from around the fringes has been pretty faultless today and he does it again on 14, lofting his second shot to five or six feet. “Another par crossed off the list,” says Monty and Rory just has to finish out the last four before the rest of the field is put out of their misery.

“You have to hand it to Rory McIlroy,” says Butch Harmon. That’s the brilliant thing — nobody has handed anything to Rory today, he’s won it all himself. Poulter threw the kitchen sink at him early on but McIlroy has been simply superb. His tee shot on 15 oozes confidence.

Tiger finds himself with an unplayable lie on the par-five 16th and it’s another shot dropped as he takes a six. If you’re knocking around Kiawah Island tonight and you bump into him, just smile and head on your way. Trust me.

Is tonight going to be one of those nights where, in years to come, people ask “where were you when Rory McIlroy won the 2012 US PGA?”

The answer, for most people sadly, will be: “Watching the Spice Girls on BBC 1.”

It’s a bogey finish for Ian Poulter, who closes out with a five for a round of 69. He finishes on -4 and it’s just a pity — for everyone bar Rory McIlroy — that his challenge petered out across the back nine.

It’s a bogey finish as well for Graeme McDowell who just drops out of the top 10. He finishes on -1 after a 71/71 weekend.

Back on 15, his fellow countryman finishes off another routine par and heads to the par-five 16th. A massive fairway awaits and Rory will be hoping to continue his birdie-birdie-birdie run on this particular hole.

DAVID LYNN IS YOUR CLUBHOUSE LEADER: The Englishman putts out for his second 68 of the weekend and he sets the bar on -5. That could be enough for outright second, depending on how Carl Pettersson finishes.

For what it’s worth, here’s the leaderboard.

Leaderboard: -11 McIlroy (15); -5 Lynn (F); -4 Rose (F), Bradley (F), Poulter (F), Pettersson (15).

That’s the first mistake in a long time from Rory as he tries a little bit too hard over his approach to 16 and forces it into the bunker out on the left of the fairway. Nothing to worry about but as Ewen Murray reminds him, “probably not time to be thinking about the speech.”

I guess it’s time to start looking at the stats. Here’s one:

Rory is 23 years and 3 months old which makes him a month older than the legendary Jack Nicklaus was when he won his second major but younger than the also legendary Tiger Woods was when he won his second.

On the 16th, McIlroy, Pettersson and van Pelt all end up off the green with their approaches but they all pitch on to within 10 feet (I think).

There’s not even a hint of movement in Rory’s putt. He holes for birdie from six or seven feet and if this has to be a procession (and it does), McIlroy is intent on doing it in style.

That’s 12-under now for Rory and he leads by seven strokes. Jack Nicklaus’s seven-stroke margin of victory in 1980 is the record but that will be Rory’s if he can cap the round with one birdie in his last two holes.

It’s also worth noting that Rory is about to bust that trend of 16 different winners in the last 16 majors, a run which stretches all the way back to Padraig Harrington at the PGA Championship in 2008. It was nice while it lasted.

Nearly time to crack open the champagne. From the side of the 17th green, Rory chips his second to about seven feet (I’m guessing now, I genuinely don’t have a clue. Or a ruler.)

It won’t kill him to drop a shot but it’d be nice to hole it and match Nicklaus’s margin.

NAILED IT! The champion-elect sends the ball home and McIlroy is hopefully just four more strokes away from the second major title of his career.

Rory’s final drive is a gem, splitting the bunkers on the 18th fairway. If he pars this hole, it will be his third round of 67 this week and nobody can say that’s not worthy of winning a major.

Eight shots at Congressional; seven shots today. It’s kinda scary to think that Rory McIlroy is still only 23. In case I haven’t mentioned it already, his round today has been superbly controlled. A million miles away from Augusta 2011.

Carl Pettersson still has a chance to move into a share of second with a birdie at the last but he’s hacked his drive down the left and into the rough.

Rory’s left with 140 yard approach which sticks up on the edge of green and rolls back to the fringe. From there, he’ll have eight putts to win the 2012 PGA Championship.

I guess he can enjoy the walk.

It’s a standing ovation as the 18th green announcer introduces the champion-elect and his playing partners to the gallery. This kid needs no introduction, trust me.

RORY MCILROY IS THE 2012 PGA CHAMPION!

And THAT is how you win a major championship. From the fringe of the green, Rory McIlroy does what he has done all afternoon and rolls his putt straight down the middle of the cup.

It’s a sensational putt, no more than his round deserves, and he wins the 2012 PGA Championship by a record margin of eight strokes from David Lynn of England.

Carl Pettersson (-4) and Bo van Pelt (-1) finish out their rounds and, just like at Congressional, Gerry McIlroy is the first on to the 18th green to greet his son. It’s not Father’s Day but it’s every bit as special.

Rory McIlroy: “I don’t think I’ve let it sink in yet. It was a great round of golf. I’m speechless

“I thought my putting today was phenomenal.

“It’s been an increedible week. I had a good feeling about it at the start but I never imagined to do this.

“It means an awful lot to look at the names on that trophy and put my name alongside them.”

For posterity’s sake, here’s your top 20:

That’s it from me. When I sat down at 6.30pm this evening, there was a tiny part of me worried that I was about to preside over another night of major disappointment for an Irish golfer. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Rory McIlroy is your 2012 PGA Champion and he’s done it in style, powering away from the field to win by a record eight shots. Only eight months to wait now until the 2013 Masters.

Until then (or more likely, until Monday morning) thanks for your company.