Over the last two years, Rory McIlroy has grown from a great player to an all-time great.
By completing the Career Grand Slam, McIlroy became the sixth player ever to win all four major titles. This year, he became the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters. McIlroy is in elite company, as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only players to achieve both.
He also brought his total to six, which puts him in esteemed company. He tied Sir Nick Faldo for the second most majors won by a European, and has now won as many as the great Phil Mickelson and Lee Trevino.
McIlroy has cemented his place among the top 10 players ever, but there’s something he can do in the next few years to carve his face into the Mount Rushmore of golfers.
How Rory McIlroy can get onto the Mount Rushmore of golfers
Golf’s Mount Rushmore almost indisputably features Woods, Nicklaus, and Ben Hogan, and for the most part, the final place is up for grabs.
Some have Arnold Palmer, some Bobby Jones. Others give Sam Snead or Byron Nelson the nod. No one from the current generation of players has really broken through.
After his dominant 2025 season, it was assumed that Scottie Scheffler would eventually crack the top four, and he likely still will. But for now, McIlroy has the clearest path.
If McIlroy wins the Open Championship and the US Open once more, he will become the third player to complete the Career Grand Slam twice. It would be McIlroy, Nicklaus, and Woods. That is esteemed company.
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And by doing so, he’d bring his major tally to eight, putting him tied with Tom Watson for sixth on the all-time wins list. With that combination of accomplishments, McIlroy would be sure to be the fourth face on the Mount Rushmore of golfers.
What’s more, McIlroy has the opportunity to complete this accomplishment at two historic venues next year. The Open will be played at the Home of Golf, St Andrews, and the US Open is at Pebble Beach.
McIlroy came close to winning at St Andrews in 2022, and he won at Pebble last year, so he’ll bring some real confidence into those two majors in 2027.
What Rory McIlroy said about completing the double Career Grand Slam
The idea of completing the double grand slam hasn’t been pulled out of thin air. In March, before he won his second Masters, McIlroy told The Fried Egg that he had set his sights on that accomplishment.
He said, “I’ve got the five majors, you know, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that I could win every major twice, which would be a really cool thing to win the grand slam twice.
“I’ve always been very hesitant to put a number on it because if you don’t get to that number, does that mean you’re a failure? Does that mean that you haven’t done what you set out to achieve?
“But then at the same time, if you put a number out there, I’m not saying that I’m gonna put a number on it, but internally, if I have something I want to do and I don’t quite get there, but I at least finish a little further ahead than where I do right now, then it was worth trying to get there.
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“So I think that’s where I’m at. Are there a certain number of majors I’d like to win? Yes. Am I going to put that number out into the world? Probably not, because I don’t need my goal to become other people’s goal, a little bit like what the Masters really became for me over these last 10 years.
He continued: “I want to leave a legacy in the game and I’ve talked about wanting to be the best European that’s ever played the game. People have different barometers about what that is, but it’s really like [Nick] Faldo and Seve [Ballesteros].
“I feel like in the game I’ve been able to pass a lot of the things that they did, but then there’s probably other things that I need to do to cement my place in that spot.”
Winning this year’s Masters is certainly a big check in the box, and two grand slams would put it beyond any doubt.
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