Rory McIlroy cemented his name among the all-time greats of the game in 2025.
When Rory McIlroy won the Masters, he achieved something that hasn’t been done since Tiger Woods, becoming the sixth player to win all four major championships and complete the career Grand Slam.
McIlroy is the first European golfer to accomplish this feat, and in the eyes of many, he is now the greatest European golfer of all time. He has the likes of Sir Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros to contend with on that front, but even Faldo gave McIlroy the nod when he won his Green Jacket.
From a young age, McIlroy looked destined for greatness. At 16 years old, McIlroy broke the scoring record at Royal Portrush, shooting a 61 in 2005, and in 2011 he won his first of five major championships.
But two years before his first major, 21-time European Tour winner and former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance made an insane prediction about McIlroy that was proven exactly correct.
Sam Torrance’s incredible Rory McIlroy prediction
2009 marked the end of Woods’ dominant run. He’d won the US Open with a torn ACL a year prior, but injuries and off-course controversies had seen him out of action, and he wouldn’t win a major over the next decade.
At the time, fans didn’t know that the Woods’ era had come to a close, but they were still looking for the next big thing. And when asked who could emerge as a major candidate in years to come, Torrance turned to a 20-year-old long-hitter from Northern Ireland.
He said in 2009, “You have got to look to young Rory McIlroy. He is the hottest prospect we have had in 20 years. It could be this year (that he wins a major). He won the Dubai classic, he has won on tour, he is ready for anything.
Do you think Rory McIlroy will win two or more majors before he retires?
“I knew him when he was 13 — he actually came to stay with me for a week, he was a friend of my sons and we played a lot of golf — and I saw a huge talent in him. He has come on leaps and bounds since then.
“He handles the spotlight well, he has just been offered his card in America which he turned down and I thought was a move beyond his years. Any kid given a card in America would have snapped it up but he doesn’t need that.
“He is ranked 14 on the world, he is in all the majors all the WGC events, he can play virtually where he wants, so not to commit to that at such an early stage was definitely a decision beyond his years.’’
That proved to be exactly correct, as McIlroy used the experience gained on the European Tour to hit the ground running when he first set foot in America. McIlroy picked up his first PGA Tour win in 2010, then won the 2010 US Open to open his major account.
Sir Nick Faldo’s criticisms of Rory McIlroy in 2009
Not everyone was completely optimistic about McIlroy’s chances of becoming the next golfing great. While Sir Nick Faldo recognized his talent, the six-time major winner was critical of how he utilized weight training.
Faldo said weights would ruin McIlroy’s swing, saying, “Throwing 200lb and 300lb weights around is not going to be good for your golf swing.
Which four players do you choose?
“The heaviest weight I would ever lift was my body weight. You can play some pretty good golf when you have just got some decent shoulders on you and a strong neck and a strong pair of hands.”
He was proven totally wrong, as McIlroy was one of the first to implement the modern, long-hitting style of golf which is seen through the likes of Bryson DeChambeau today.
He stayed true to himself, and that’s what brought him to the top of the game. Nothing has changed in that regard.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
