Alan Shipnuck predicts how many more majors Rory McIlroy will win in his career after his Masters success

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Rory McIlroy is now up to five major championships after his victory at The Masters last weekend.

McIlroy won his first Green Jacket and completed the career Grand Slam in an epic showdown with Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Rose at Augusta National.

The Northern Irishman had been under so much pressure to get over the line, and you could see the relief when he made the winning putt in the playoff.

Now, many people believe he will achieve plenty more in the game as there won’t be so much scrutiny on his performances.

• READ MORE: Nick Dougherty says whether he believes Rory McIlroy can now catch Tiger Woods major record after he wins The Masters

Alan Shipnuck estimates how many majors Rory McIlroy will win

Golf expert Alan Shipnuck is in the majority who expect McIlroy to add to his major championship tally in the foreseeable future.

The key question is how many the 35-year-old can win in the remainder of his career, which could be more than a decade.

Shipnuck suggested that McIlroy has what it takes to double his current five majors because his game is so versatile and that he’s under less pressure.

“It’s a tantalising question. He’s playing the best golf of his life, we know that. Actually, at Pebble Beach this year after he won, I asked him about this, and he said, ‘I’m finally a complete player.’ And I thought the finally was interesting, and followed up on that. He just said, ‘yeah, I can hit it high, I can hit it low, I can play in the wind.’

“Rory used to have only a fastball. He’s added more pitches over the years. Now he’s got them all – the change-up, the split finger, the slider. You saw that for three and a half rounds basically, his wedge play and his short iron play at Augusta were absolutely impeccable. And that’s what’s always held him back there, and other really exacting, precise setups that you get at the majors.

“Obviously, there was a huge mistake on 13; he still came back and hit those shots, that shot in the playoff. If Rory from 150 yards in is going to be that good, combined with his driving, then he can win anytime, anywhere, and he died three different deaths out there on Sunday, and yet, he still prevailed.

“Nothing will ever hurt him on a golf course again. There’s no situation that will ever replicate the pressure he felt. It’s going to be easy from now on. I remember Mark O’Meara won The Masters, and he was in contention later that year at The British Open, and he said, ‘I couldn’t believe how calm I was, it just felt so easy.’ And I think that’s going to be Rory’s experience.

“If he’s in the hunt at Quail Hollow, Oakmont, and Portrush, where there’s going to be a lot of build-up because it’s on his native soil, I think it’s easy to imagine he doubles his total and gets to 10, which puts him in very rarified air.”

How many players have won more majors than Rory McIlroy?

14 players have won six or more major championships in golfing history. These include the greatest players of all time, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

McIlroy has almost no chance of catching those two – and probably third-place Water Hagen – but Ben Hogan and Gary Player seem within reach.

The next major on the calendar is the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where McIlroy has won four times before.

So, he could level Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson as early as next month. That would really bring some of the aforementioned legends’ records into play.