Who Sir Nick Faldo believes is the best golfer between himself and Rory McIlroy

Add as preferred source on Google

Rory McIlroy’s 2025 has elevated him from being a great golfer to an all-time great golfer.

Not only did Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam, becoming one of only six players to win all four major championships. He won an away Ryder Cup, won the Irish Open and The Players in what could be the best year of McIlroy’s career. 

He’s the first European golfer to win the career grand slam, but does that automatically make him the best European player ever?

He hasn’t won the most majors. In the modern era, that record is held by Sir Nick Faldo, who has six. Faldo himself has said whether he thinks McIlroy is Europe’s best-ever golfer, and Dame Laura Davies seconded his opinion. 

Laura Davies agrees with Nick Faldo’s best European golfer ever

Faldo, who won The Masters and The Open Championship three times each, thinks that while he has won more majors than McIlroy, the Northern Irishman is above him in the all-time pantheon of great golfers.

Davies was asked on Sky Sports if McIlroy was the best-ever European golfer, and agreed with Faldo’s take. The four-time major winner answered: “I think so. We were there when he won at Augusta with Sir Nick, and even he said, I have a couple more majors, but what he has done now puts him above me.

“If someone like Nick is saying that, we really do need to listen to that. He gets my vote, for sure.”

It’s a conversation that McIlroy wasn’t really a part of before 2025. How one major win can change things!

But winning The Masters brought him level with the great Seve Ballesteros in major championship victories, with five, and made him the first player since Tiger Woods to complete the career grand slam. 

That’s esteemed territory, and with a couple more major wins, McIlroy could slam the door shut with this debate.

Laura Davies says how Rory McIlroy can be beaten in the Race to Dubai

McIlroy is currently going for his fourth-straight Race to Dubai victory in 2025. His DP World Tour playoff campaign got off to a poor start, as McIlroy shot an opening round four-under-par at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to leave him four shots off the lead. 

Despite that, McIlroy holds the lead in the standings and is being chased down by the likes of Marco Penge, who was grouped with McIlroy at Yas Links. 

Davies said whether she thinks McIlroy will hold on to win the Race to Dubai. She said, “There is so many points up for grabs that if you win you are going to make big strides but their biggest problem is that Rory is probably going to do pretty well himself.

“You have to say that any [of the top 10] just have some sort of chance, but that depends on Rory. All they can try and do is win back-to-back weeks.

“If they can do that then they have got a chance, but the ones in seventh, eighth or ninth place almost have to win back-to-back to have any chance at all.”

McIlroy is still in contention this weekend, and a good finish will put him firmly in the driver’s seat to take home yet another title.