Rory McIlroy and girlfriend ‘Sweet’ Caroline Wozniacki headed off to New York to celebrate the Irishman’s rise to golfing World No. 1.

Some two months after Wozniacki lost her Number One women’s tennis world ranking at the Australian Open she was on hand to toast her boyfriend who is now top of the world in the men’s pro golf rankings.

And McIlroy, who also became the second youngest World No. 1 as well as the first Irish golfer to go to Number One in the world, could not have been happier.

“Exciting times,” said McIlroy after winning the Honda Classic.

“I think it’s fantastic for the game.

“I think everyone is excited for Augusta to roll around. I definitely know I am. I’m looking forward to getting back there and giving it another shot.”

Wozniaki remarked on her Twitter saying:  “Amazing performance by Rory. Tournament win and new world number 1!! Deserves a good celebration!!”

The Danish tennis ace was then heading to Indian Wells where’s she is competing in the March 7 to 18 BNP Paribus Open, and where if she progresses as expected she will have McIlroy courtside from 12th March.

McIlroy’s fifth pro career success was all class and the 22-year old displayed a seemingly new found maturity in winning by two strokes and not being for a moment intimidated by Tiger Woods who came from eight shots back to grab the clubhouse lead with an eagle at the last in a historic fourth round of 62.

Gone was the immaturity of letting slip a first pro career success at the 2008 Omega European Masters when he flew the green to allow Frenchman Jean Francois Lucquin to be fitted with the traditional bright red jacket.

Also missing was the nerves some five months later when McIlroy just only managed to scrape over the line to win the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic despite leading by five shots heading into the last day.

No, Sunday’s final round was all class and McIlroy richly deserved all the spoils with his success.

“I feel like I’ve always believed in my ability, it’s just doing it at the right times,” he said.

“I’m getting better at knowing what I need to do when I get into contention. That just comes with experience. I definitely don’t doubt myself as much as I used to.

“Obviously you try to forget the bad experiences and remember the good ones. It gives me a little bit of confidence knowing if I get myself in that position again that I’m able to finish the job off.

“It was always a dream of mine to become the world number one, but I didn’t know that I would be able to get here this quickly.”

Fellow U.S. Open winner, Graeme McDowell remarked: “This golf season just got a lot more spicy.

“Obviously Tiger is back doing only outrageous things that Tiger can do, but Rory is the best player I’ve ever seen. It’s pretty scary to see what he can do with a golf ball.

“As soon as he learned how to putt he was going to be a dominating force and you’re starting to see that now.

“That was the missing link.

“He was not a stand-out closer two years ago because he didn’t have the putting ability. Now he has.”

And McDowell is right in suggesting the 2012 season has only got spicer and victorious Ryder Cup captain, Colin Montgomerie concurs.

“It was fantastic to see how Rory handled Sunday and all credit to him,” said Monty.

”And it’s great for the game Tiger is back as we’ve missed him as a competitor and a marketer for the game along with television, the media and fans around the world.

“So I don’t think next Masters would be much anticipated as it now is without Tiger again playing well.”