Rory McIlroy needed most of Sunday to finish the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. He never needed to look over his shoulder.

The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland won the 94th PGA Championship by eight strokes, a record for the event, The Guardian reported. No one, including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, had won it by that much, ESPN reported. The previous record belonged to Nicklaus, who set it in 1980, according to the PGA of America.

McIlroy finished at 13 under par, 275, after a closing 66, according to the PGA of America. England’s David Lynn, playing in only his second major, finished second and left with a check for $865,000 and an invitation to next year’s Masters, The Guardian reported.

“I allowed myself the luxury of walking up 18 knowing that I was going to win,” McIlroy said, according to ESPN. “I enjoyed the moment, just let it all sink in.”

The win was McIlroy’s second major, after the 2011 U.S. Open, and returns him to No. 1 in the world rankings, ESPN reported.

A 27-hole Sunday

Weather made for a long final day. McIlroy came back Sunday morning to finish a rain-suspended third round, shooting 67, then played the final 18 holes in the afternoon. The Guardian called it a “marathon 27-hole Sunday finish.”

He started the final round at 7 under par with a three-shot lead over Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, ESPN reported. England’s Ian Poulter birdied six of his first seven holes to get within two shots, then bogeyed three straight holes, according to The Guardian. McIlroy birdied the 72nd hole.

“He was just better than everybody,” said Pettersson, who played in McIlroy’s group, according to ESPN.

“I’m speechless,” McIlroy said, according to The Guardian. “It has been an incredible week.”

Kiawah’s sales pitch

For Kiawah, the week was about more than who lifted the Wanamaker Trophy.

It was the first major golf championship contested in South Carolina, the PGA of America and Kiawah Island Golf Resort said when they announced ticket plans in August 2010. At that announcement, resort President Roger Warren called it “the highest-profile sporting event held in South Carolina since we hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup,” also on the Ocean Course.

Organizers deliberately kept crowds smaller than usual. The PGA of America said in 2010 that it would cap ticket sales nearly 30% below the level typically allocated for a PGA Championship, in part to create what it called “a more intimate atmosphere for business professionals for client hospitality and entertainment.”

Demand was strong anyway. The opening day of ticket sales, Nov. 15, 2010, was the largest single day of ticket sales in PGA Championship history, Championship Director Brett Sterba said that December, in remarks posted by Kiawah Island Real Estate. About 53% of sales at that point came from buyers more than 50 miles from Kiawah, the post said.

Kiawah Island Real Estate, the sales arm of island developer Kiawah Partners, said in a July 31 post that about 30,000 visitors a day were expected on the course. It said about 580 million households in more than 200 countries would be able to watch more than 154 hours of television coverage.

What the Ryder Cup did for land prices

The island’s real estate sellers have a reason to watch the aftermath closely. After the 1991 Ryder Cup, Kiawah had an “overwhelming number of inquiries,” Kiawah Island Real Estate said in its July post.

By 1995, according to the firm, the average number of annual closed real estate transactions on the island was 89% higher than the three-year average before the Ryder Cup. The average price of a homesite was up 73%, and the average single-family home price was up 85%.

“We expect the same in the weeks, months, and years following the PGA Championship,” the firm wrote.

The resort sits along 10 miles of beach south of Charleston. Besides the Ocean Course and four other championship courses, it includes The Sanctuary, a 255-room oceanfront hotel and spa, and manages about 600 private villas and homes, according to its 2010 announcement.

The Ocean Course, designed by Pete Dye, also hosted the 2007 Senior PGA Championship.