When Rory McIlroy’s final three-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole against Justin Rose disappeared into the cup at this year’s Masters on April 13, the cumulative weight of the streak of 10-plus years of major-less wins was permanently removed.
He also became the sixth person in the world to achieve a career Grand Slam: winning the Masters, British Open, U.S. Open, and PGA Championship.
Expectations are always a central topic in all of sports, and elite professional golf is no exception.
When McIlroy entered the professional ranks in 2007, the expectations were sky high—equal to the fanfare paid to Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods after both had demonstrated stellar play in the amateur ranks.
A Masters green jacket appeared to be in the cards for McIlroy at the 2011 event. But a final round 80 terminated that effort. McIlroy’s resilience prompted him to rebound brilliantly just two months later when he thoroughly vanquished the field with a record-setting eight-stroke margin at the U.S. Open at Congressional.
By the age of 25, McIlroy had secured four majors—a feat only matched by the likes of Nicklaus and Woods.
The expectations trajectory was now raised. A strong belief in a double-digit major career beckoned.
Between his 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla and his most recent Masters victory, McIlroy has won 29 times on the PGA Tour and remains the pivotal mainstay for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup matches.
Given his talents and wherewithal to always be in contention, his inability to win majors became the central storyline. The crushing weight of expectations was finally lifted when the green jacket was placed around McIlroy’s shoulders, most notably by the 2024 Augusta winner and world-ranked No. 1 player Scottie Scheffler.
The immediacy of that significant personal fulfillment is now going to test whether the Masters win will serve as a springboard to reach even greater heights.
How high?
The stature of a calendar Grand Slam is now the new benchmark: winning the Masters, British Open, U.S. Open and PGA Championship all in one year. The Mount Everest of golf achievements that has not been scaled.
A bit of history is needed to give some much-needed perspective on what constitutes a Grand Slam.
In 1930, when Bob Jones won the U.S. Open and Amateur and the British Open and Amateur, the accomplishment was noted by New York sportswriter George Trevor as the “impregnable quadrilateral.”
In 1953, Ben Hogan won three of the modern Grand Slam events—the Masters, U.S. Open, and the British Open. Hogan could not play in the PGA Championship because the timing was too close in scheduling, given his desire to play in Scotland at Carnoustie.
Seven years later, a charismatic Arnold Palmer took center stage, winning the first two legs with triumphs at Augusta and showcasing a final round come-from-behind 65 to win the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills. Palmer nearly captured the centennial British Open Championship at St. Andrews, finishing one stroke behind eventual champion Kel Nagle.
The arrival of Nicklaus’s career pushed the term “Grand Slam” to the top of the pecking order. The Golden Bear relished the challenge and in 1972 won the first two legs with a fourth green jacket at Augusta and a sensational U.S. Open win at Pebble Beach. When Nicklaus arrived in Scotland for the British Open at Muirfield, the buzz of his quest was electric. Nicklaus made a final round push with a closing 66 but fell one stroke short to Lee Trevino.
Although no one has achieved the Grand Slam in a single calendar year, Woods did something no one had done previously when winning the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship in 2000 and then eight months later claiming the 2001 Masters. Interestingly, no golfer had ever held all four major titles at the same time. While not deemed a pure Grand Slam accomplishment, the feat was aptly called the “Tiger Slam.”
In 2015, Jordan Spieth won the first two majors—the Masters and the U.S. Open—before missing out on a playoff at the British Open at St. Andrews when a final birdie putt at the 18th narrowly missed.
McIlroy, to his eternal credit, has not stated a desire to win the calendar Grand Slam. Such an ill-conceived action is not something one states after only just recently ending a major-less streak that stretched over 10 years.
This year’s venues include Quail Hollow for the PGA Championship in mid-May. McIlroy has a fondness for the Charlotte, N.C., course as he has won the Wells Fargo PGA Tour event four times there. Undoubtedly, he will be the betting favorite.
The U.S. Open returns for a record 10th time to Oakmont in June. Located just outside Pittsburgh, Pa., the muscular layout is renowned for elevating the game’s great players over the years, and having McIlroy’s name added would be a continuation of that record.
The final venue is one that could be a glorious setting should McIlroy somehow make it to July and finalize the Grand Slam. This year’s British Open Championship returns for the second time to Royal Portrush and its magnificent Dunluce Course. The Northern Ireland layout hosted the event in 2019, and it was a fitting setting for fellow countryman Shane Lowry to take home the Claret Jug.
McIlroy set the course record on the former layout with a 62, but his most recent effort at the 2019 championship was anything but memorable. He hit his opening tee shot out of bounds, and he was unable to make the 36-hole cut.
Winning one major in a given year is a notable success. When any golfer wins more than one—as Xander Schauffele did in 2024—the achievement is clearly enhanced and duly recognized by one’s peers.
McIlroy’s focus is now on the PGA Championship. Supporters have stated that now that the long major-less drought is over, he will now unleash the kind of sustained excellence demonstrated early in his pro career.
That remains to be seen.
The key for any elite golfer is: Can the will to win be maintained? Nicklaus had it. So did Woods. Both men never rested on their laurels. Now the question remaining is whether McIlroy is willing to do likewise: savoring the Augusta win but not allowing it to be the final defining moment of his career.
McIlroy is 35 years old, and if his present golf form remains at the highest of levels, it could mean realistically anywhere from 20 to 40 more majors for him to play.
There are also the competitors McIlroy faces. Scheffler, Schauffele, and others are not simply going to stand aside and be nothing more than spectators. Majors matter to all of the players.
On the practical side, getting one’s golf game at its ultimate best at various key calendar times is no small feat. Grinding through tough stretches of holes or rounds will certainly be tested.
There are also the vagaries of the sport—the good and bad bounces that happen. Golf is played outdoors, and the weather can play a huge role. In 2002, Woods won the first two legs of the Grand Slam and then headed to Scotland for the British Open.
After two rounds, Woods was in contention, but his Saturday afternoon tee time meant encountering a severe storm that dropped temperatures and featured penetrating rain that caused havoc for the duration of the round. Woods scored an 81 on the links at Muirfield, his highest score at that time in a major event. The quest for the Grand Slam ended that day.
Greg Norman led each of the majors after 54 holes in 1986. He was only able to win one of them.
McIlroy’s Masters win required him to dig down deep and forge ahead even when head-scratching, boneheaded golf shots were made on the final nine holes that Sunday.
A noted golf axiom involves taking one golf shot at a time—not thinking too far ahead but remaining in the moment.
A calendar Grand Slam effort requires a boat-load of talent and some good old-fashioned luck at the right moment. How ironic that such a Hollywood story comes from McIlroy, who hails originally from Holywood, Northern Ireland.
An Irishman seeking golf’s ultimate holy grail.
Onward to Charlotte and the PGA Championship.
