Masters champion Rory McIlroy reacts during the Green Jacket Presentation Ceremony after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo / Getty Images
Masters champion Rory McIlroy reacts during the Green Jacket Presentation Ceremony after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo / Getty Images
Rory McIlroy’s coach has declared that the Northern Irishman will go on to win 10 majors now that he has broken his 11-year void at the game’s biggest events.
With the dramatic Masters win yesterday, the 35-year-old became the sixth male to complete the career grand slam – joining Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – and Brad Faxon, McIlroy’s putting instructor and mentor, believes this will open the floodgates and that he will not be stuck on five for very long.
“He has played professional golf for more than half his life now and there is nothing that can stop this guy,” Faxon said. “Rory can double his number of majors – he can go on to win 10. Something happened from the defeats to build the resilience he has. It builds inside what you need to overcome. He is an example to everyone.”
The McIlroy camp is certain that all the competitive heartache he endured has transformed him into the game’s iron man, although what would have happened to McIlroy and his dreams if Justin Rose had denied him the Augusta play-off perhaps does not bear thinking about. McIlroy was five clear with eight to play and this undoubtedly would have been the most painful loss.
“Rory has carried a burden since 2014 to have this goal accomplished and every year, since the first major of the year, it gets harder,” Faxon said. “Rory is one of the most intelligent, kind people I have ever met in my life and he knows everything about the history of the game and what this means for the game.”
For McIlroy, this victory essentially meant validation. He has been telling the media for years that he has an inner toughness that was absent when he was on the way to becoming the first player since Nicklaus and Woods to win four majors before he was 25.
“I’ve been saying it until I’m blue in the face: I truly believe I’m a better player now than I was 10 years ago,” McIlroy said. “It’s so hard to stay patient. It’s so hard to keep coming back every year and trying your best and not being able to get it done.
“It’s tough. You’ve had Jack, Gary, Tom [Watson], Tiger, you name it, come through here and all say that I’ll win the Masters one day. That’s a hard load to carry. It really is.
“These are idols of mine and look, it’s very flattering that they all come up here and they believe in me and they believe in my abilities to be able to win this tournament and achieve the career grand slam and all that. But it doesn’t help, you know. I wish they didn’t say it.”
Paul McGinley, McIlroy’s friend and former Ryder Cup captain, is confident that his countryman will ride the momentum.
‘He’s climbed Everest’
“I think this is a different Rory,” he said. “I think this is an evolution of Rory. There is mental resilience there that might not have been there. He’s got strategies, he digs deep, and he can win when he’s not right on it. He’s on a path to maybe win more.
“Now that he’s climbed Everest, does he lose a little bit? When you reach something you’ve desired so much, you kind of soften... but I don’t think so. I think he’s going to keep going. I’ve said if he’ll win one major, he’ll win three or four. I don’t think he’s done winning majors this year. He’s got some great chances to add to it – maybe a double, a triple, or maybe even a grand slam this year? How about that?”
Rory McIlroy celebrates winning the 2025 Masters Tournament after the first playoff hole on the 18th green at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo / Getty Images
McGinley was laughing at the last point. Experts know it is an unrealistic ambition – and that the odds of 80-1 on him doing it this year are anything but generous. It has never been achieved, with Woods holding all the major titles at the same time – in 2001 – but not winning them all in the same year.
However, six players in history have prevailed in the first two majors in a campaign – the most recent being Jordan Spieth 10 years ago – and it is fair to say McIlroy is suited to the venue of next month’s US PGA Championship. Indeed, Quail Hollow happens to be his most prolific hunting ground.
McIlroy has won at the Charlotte course on four occasions, more than anywhere, and it is no surprise that the bookmakers have installed McIlroy as favourite despite the pre-eminence of world No 1 Scottie Scheffler. McIlroy also has a return to Royal Portrush to look forward to in what is certain to be an emotionally charged homecoming.
He famously shot a 61 at the Dunluce Links as a 16-year-old, but found the glare of the spotlight too much there at the 2019 Open, when he missed the cut. McIlroy would not seem an ideal candidate for Oakmont, the brutal Pittsburgh course that hosts the US Open in June, but if he does make it two out of two, the anticipation will erupt into frenzy.
“Look, you can’t win all four majors in a year if you haven’t won the first one,” McIlroy said with a smirk when asked about the possibility. “There’s a lot of golf to play this year – the next major is at Quail Hollow, somewhere I love, the Open at Portrush, the Ryder Cup at Bethpage. I need to keep it going.”
McIlroy is due to defend two titles before the US PGA. He and his closest ally, Shane Lowry, are scheduled to play in the PGA Tour’s pairs event in New Orleans next week – although there is a chance they could skip it to protect the energy levels – and the week after, the Truist Championship in Philadelphia. “His self-belief will be sky high,” McGinley said. “And his impetus could be irresistible.”
