Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are very much in agreement regarding the trophy every golfer needs to win if they are to complete their career and Rory McIlroy is still yet to get it done.
Woods and Nicklaus are the two greatest golfers to have ever lived, with 15 and 18 major championships to their names respectively.
McIlroy recently joined Woods and Nicklaus in the highly exclusive career Grand Slam club but the Northern Irishman is still yet to do one thing in particular which the two American greats have both done, twice each in fact.
Just over a decade ago, McIlroy was being tipped to match the records of Woods and Nicklaus.
Back in 2014, he has just won his fourth major championship at the age of 25. However, he had to wait until The Masters in 2025 to win his fifth.
It has been claimed that McIlroy isn’t demonstrably better than his opponents like Woods and Nicklaus were in their primes.
It’s fair to argue that point but it must be said, Nicklaus came up against Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson in their primes while Woods had to regularly face off against the likes of Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.
McIlroy is already held in the very highest esteem in golfing circles, but there is one thing he’s still yet to achieve.
Rory McIlroy hasn’t achieved feat Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods said you need to complete your career
If McIlroy’s career ended today, he would undoubtedly walk away a happy man.
He should be very proud of what he has achieved so far during his time in the professional game.
Aside from all of the tournaments the 36-year-old has won, he has also been a part of six successful European Ryder Cup teams.
However, there is still something missing from McIlroy’s career.
Woods recently explained the one tournament every golfer should be looking to win in order to complete their career.
He said: “Just look at the names on the Claret Jug, and you go through a time warp. Just how they put the names on, it started at the bottom, then they added the lip, and then they added the bases. Just the little things, everyone who has won that championship knows how hard it was.
“To have won The Open Championship and for me specifically to have won one at the home golf is even more special.
“Jack says that your career is not complete unless you have won an Open Championship at the home of golf and I feel like he is correct in that regard.“
Nicklaus won The Open Championship at St. Andrews in 1970 and 1978 while Tiger completed the feat in 2000 and 2005.
McIlroy came close in 2022 but he fell at the final hurdle and it goes without saying that he will be desperate to win The Open at St. Andrews before his career is finished.
Tiger Woods vs Jack Nicklaus vs Rory McIlroy: PGA Tour records compared
It’s unfair to compare McIlroy with Woods and Nicklaus at the moment.
The five-time major winner’s career is far from finished and he has plenty of wins yet to come in his future.
However, it doesn’t harm taking a look at the three players’ PGA Tour numbers, does it?
| Achievements | Woods | Nicklaus | McIlroy |
| Events played | 378 | 584 | 273 |
| Major wins | 15 | 18 | 5 |
| Wins | 82 | 73 | 29 |
| Top-5s | 163 | 209 | 84 |
| Top-10s | 199 | 286 | 133 |
| Missed cuts | 39 | 89 | 32 |
The numbers from Woods and Nicklaus are obviously far superior to McIlroy’s as things stand, but the man from Northern Ireland still has at least a decade of top-class golf ahead of him.
However, if McIlroy could pick just one more tournament to win, it would surely be The Open Championship at the Home of Golf, St. Andrews.
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