Before the 2025 Masters, you would potentially have to go back to the first two majors of 2011 for the tournaments that perhaps best summed up Rory McIlroy’s career.
Heading into the final round of the 2011 Masters, it appeared that Augusta National was set to be the site of Rory McIlroy‘s coronation as golf’s great new hope. He was four shots clear of the chasing pack, having stolen the show with a 65 on Thursday.
Of course, the first of several scars collected in the majors came on Sunday. McIlroy shot an 80 to finish 10 shots back of Charl Schwartzel.
But that collapse made what followed at the US Open all the scarier.
How Rory McIlroy’s peers reacted to his eight shot victory at the 2011 US Open
McIlroy blew the field away at Congressional. He was six shots clear at the halfway mark. Ultimately, he would win by eight, becoming only the third player to ever break 70 in all four rounds at the US Open.
It was arguably the most impressive major performance since Tiger Woods had won the same event on one leg three years earlier. Inevitably, it led to a debate regarding whether the sport had found Woods’ heir.
As noted by Sports Illustrated at the time, Graeme McDowell – who had lifted the same trophy in 2010 – admitted it was not easy to watch his good friend’s triumph in Maryland.
“It’s demoralizing,” McDowell said with a sigh. “He can do things to a golf ball that I can’t. That almost no one else can. He can fly it 340 down the middle then land a three-iron as soft as a butterfly with blisters. Golf is hard for the rest of us. It’s a struggle. He makes the game look so easy, it’s a joke.
“Can he be the next Tiger?” asks McDowell. “Those are really big shoes to fill. Rory has the talent. He’s obviously proved that. But will he have the focus, the single-mindedness of purpose? Ultimately it will come down to how bad he wants it.”
Elsewhere, Steve Stricker did not shy away from comparisons with Tiger Woods after watching McIlroy’s performance.
“Rory’s swing looks as good as Tiger’s did when he was in his prime, when he was swinging his best,” he said.
What Phil Mickelson said about Rory McIlroy after his first major win
It was McIlroy’s second PGA Tour victory. He had previously entered the big time with his victory at Quail Hollow in 2010.
McIlroy posted a 62 in the final round to beat Phil Mickelson by four shots in Charlotte.
And following the youngster’s maiden major win, Mickelson issued a simple response when asked what was missing from his game.
“I’m not sure yet if I have a great answer for you,” he said.
The biggest surprise afterwards was that McIlroy did not finish in the top 10 in any of his next five major appearances. He actually missed the cut at the 2012 US Open at Bethpage.
But he would indeed add a second major title before the year concluded, with victory at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
McIlroy will almost certainly fall short of Woods’ major tally. The 49-year-old is 10 ahead. And in the era of Scottie Scheffler, it is going to be incredibly difficult for the Northern Irishman to close the gap considerably.
Despite that, it cannot be ignored that just two players have completed a Career Grand Slam in the men’s game in the last 48 years: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
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