Rory McIlroy finally unlocked the code to join golf’s most exclusive club – that of completing the career Grand Slam by finally adding the Masters to his US Open, US PGA and The Open championship successes – but admitted to carrying a “burden” for over a decade in attempting to achieve the feat.
“I think I’ve carried that burden since August 2014. It’s nearly 11 years,” said McIlroy, dating the timeline back to his US PGA win of that year, the fourth Major of his career but, until now, missing a green jacket.
“[It was] not just about winning my next Major, but the career Grand Slam, trying to join a group of five players to do it, [and] watching a lot of my peers get green jackets in the process.
“It’s been difficult, and I’ve tried to approach this tournament with the most positive attitude each and every time that I’ve shown up, and I think just the sort of cumulative experience that I’ve gained coming back here each and every year, I just I feel like I get a little more comfortable with the shots needed. I talked about it at the start of the week, but there’s talking about it and actually doing it.”
McIlroy didn’t make it easy for himself by any means, leading by four shots at one juncture of his homeward run, but ultimately needing to defeat his Europe Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose in a play-off with a birdie at the first hole of sudden death (the 18th hole).
The Northern Irishman’s reward was a pay-day of $4.2 million that saw him further increase his lead on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings, although the green jacket – Size 38R – provided the physical manifestation of his joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in achieving the Grand Slam feat.
McIlroy has many of those legendary names predict that the Masters would done day be his, not that it made it any easier: “You’ve had Jack, Gary, Tom, Tiger, you name it, all say that I’ll win the Masters one day. That’s a hard load to carry. It really is.
“You know, these are idols of mine, and, look, it’s very flattering that they all believe in me and they believe in my abilities to be able to win this tournament achieve the Grand Slam and all that.”
In his 11th attempt to complete the Grand Slam by winning the Masters, McIlroy finally managed to do it, claiming a fifth career Major – just one shy of the six held by Nick Faldo, the most by any European in the modern era – and ending a drought of 11 years going back to 2014. Most importantly, the Masters completed the set.
“It’s a dream come true. I have dreamt about that moment for as long as I can remember. I mentioned it out in the prize ceremony, but watching Tiger here in 1997 do what he did, and then winning his first green jacket, I think that inspired so many of my generation to want to emulate what he did.
“You know, there were points in my career where I didn’t know if I would have this nice garment over my shoulders, but I didn’t make it easy today. I certainly didn’t make it easy. I was nervous. It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on the golf course,” admitted McIlroy, who had already decided not to play in this week’s Heritage Classic, a signature event on the PGA Tour, and who instead plans on a trip home to Northern Ireland to see his parents, Gerry and Rosie, who were not at Augusta.
