McIlroy makes history: Grand Slam and two-time Masters championship
Rory McIlroy has just joined an elite club. He first became the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam. Now, he is only the fourth to win the Masters two years in a row.
Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only other players who belong to both clubs. A legendary trio, without a doubt.
If joining the first group was already difficult—11 years of trying to get that last stretch—winning his second green jacket was a stark reminder: getting to the top is one thing, staying there is another entirely.
“I thought last year it was very difficult to win because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam,” McIlroy said. “And this year I realized that it’s just very difficult to win the Masters.”
How did you do it?
Last year, after fulfilling that dream, he fell into a rut. The questions about ‘what now?’ They irritated him. I just wanted to enjoy the moment. He finally got back on track at the Irish Open.
This time, it seems that motivation will not be a problem.
“I felt like the Grand Slam was destiny, and I realized it wasn’t,” McIlroy said after closing out another crazy Sunday at Augusta with a one-stroke victory over Scottie Scheffler.
“I just won my sixth major… I don’t want to put a number on it, but I feel like this win is just… part of the way.”
The conversation about how many majors he will win began long before his first Masters. He won his first major in 2011, breaking records. That led Padraig Harrington to say:
“If you’re going to talk about someone challenging Jack’s record, there’s your man.”
Nicklaus has 18 majors. Woods has 15. McIlroy has six, tied with greats like Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson.
Fred Couples joined the chorus this week:
“Rory might never lose this again after last year… She could really win five more of these.”
Easy, right? McIlroy responds with a smile:
“Yeah, I don’t make it easy… I used to make it easy in my early 20s, when I won these things by eight strokes.”
He still holds records for margin of victory. But now he knows the truth:
“No, it’s just difficult. It’s difficult to win golf tournaments, especially here.”
An ending to remember
It wasn’t easy a year ago, when he lost leads and beat Justin Rose in a tiebreaker. It wasn’t this time either.
He lost a six-stroke lead on Saturday. He then was two shots behind on two different occasions during the final round.
Scheffler was within reach but made 11 consecutive pars. Young had opportunities and didn’t capitalize on them.
McIlroy was also on the limit: a wedge right at the 15th, a spectacular save at the 17th, and a dangerous drive at the 18th.
It ended with more joy than relief — a big difference from last year. The only tears were when talking to his parents, who almost didn’t come so as not to ‘jinx’ him.
With a final bogey that he could afford, he sealed the victory by one stroke over Scheffler, the world number 1.
“I’ve competed against him for a long time,” Scheffler said of McIlroy, “and you don’t win the amount of tournaments he’s won here without being pretty resilient.”
The plan forward
McIlroy is the first player since Adam Scott in 2013 to take three weeks off before winning the Masters. That strategy seems to stick.
“I think it’s a good model,” McIlroy said. “When I talked to Jack Nicklaus… he went the week before and simulated a tournament. I think it’s definitely a good way to prepare.”
The next major starts on May 15. Another stop on this extraordinary path.
