At twenty-five years old Rory McIlroy has accomplished more than most in the world of professional golf. A childhood prodigy who grew up expecting greatness, he turned professional at 18 and is now the number one player in the world with 19 career victories world-wide. A two-time player of the year on the PGA Tour, he has won two consecutive major championships and needs only the Masters to become the sixth player in history to complete the career grand slam. He won his first US Open in 2010, the PGA Championship in 2012 and added the Open Championship and his second PGA Championship last year. Of all the players in modern golf history, only two have entered the Masters ranked number one in the world having won the last two majors, Nick Price and Tiger Woods. And only Woods and Ben Hogan have won three consecutive Majors. How many people in the world of golf think he won’t accomplish the undertaking? The question most golf fans have asked is: Is this the year?
Of the six men who have completed the most difficult accomplishment in golf, only Gene Sarazen used the Masters to complete his slam, winning his fourth major in 1935 in what was just the third Masters ever played. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player and Ben Hogan had all won the Masters before winning the fourth leg of their slam. The Open Championship completed the task for Woods and Nicklaus while the US Open closed the deal for Player and Hogan.
The list of great players who have not completed the slam includes a veritable hall of fame list of golf royalty. Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd, Byron Nelson and Walter Hagan all won multiple majors but never all four to complete the modern grand slam.
What makes for a compelling story line in the 2015 Masters is McIlroy, in most people opinion, should have already won the Masters. The 2011 tournament was his to win and he was leading, with just the back nine to play, before melting down under the Sunday pressure of the Masters. The irony is that might have been his best opportunity. In six attempts at winning the green jacket, McIlroy has finished in the top ten only once and missed the cut in 2010. His career highest finish was last year, barely making the cut on the number after shooting 77 on Friday, but played four under on the weekend to finish tied for eighth.
Again the question: Can Rory McIlroy win the Masters to complete the Grand Slam of golf and bolster his place as one of the greatest players to play the game? If he does it this year he will become, at twenty-five, the second youngest to accomplish the hardest test in golf. Woods did it at twenty-four. Nicklaus was twenty-six, Player twenty-nine, Sarazen thirty-three and Hogan was thirty-four when they completed what very few in the history of golf have ever achieved.
I’ll finally answer the question. Yes he will win this tournament and complete the Grand Slam of Golf because, in the world of professional golf, right now, at this moment in history, Rory McIlroy is the best player in the world. Will he win this week? He could, but I guarantee this, he will win the Masters and he will do it in the very near future. He will complete the grand slam of golf and join golfing immortality because on golf’s biggest stage, under the harsh glow of golf’s brightest lights, Rory McIlroy is golf’s brightest star.
At the Masters, I’m Jeff Waters