Where does McIlroy rank among greats after Masters defence?

Müsabaka gündeminden önemli bir haber: Where does McIlroy rank among greats after Masters defence? To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Media caption, McIlroy holds nerve to win second successive Masters By Jonathan Jurejko Sport golf reporter Published 3 hours ago 49 Comments A surefire sign of a sports star who wants to achieve true greatness is the ability to recalibrate, realign and reach their next goal.

Jack Nicklaus had that quality. Tiger Woods also had it. Rory McIlroy is highly unlikely to reach the same number of major wins as the two finest golfers to have ever picked up a club but, after becoming only the fourth player to successfully defend the Masters title, he has shown he has the same ability to chase down new targets.

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Last year at Augusta National, McIlroy also earned his place in history as the sixth man to sweep the board at the four major tournaments - the Masters, US PGA Championship, the Open Championship and the US Open. Afterwards, he searched for new purpose having scaled his "golfing Everest". It is no secret of where his ambitions lie now: climbing as high as possible on the list of major wins.

"If you win more than one major you're semi-elite. To have won three of the majors means you have had an exceptional career," Ken Brown, the golf commentator and former European Ryder Cup player said. "But to win the Grand Slam and back-to-back Masters?

It puts you in the spot where you are living with the absolute greats who have played the game in the modern era. " After securing a sixth major title at Augusta National on Sunday, where does the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland go next and where does he now sit in the pantheon of golfing greats? Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Jack Nicklaus' record tally of 18 men's major titles - set in 1986 - remains the target Nicklaus & Woods still reign - how far behind is McIlroy?

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When McIlroy emerged as a swashbuckling, shot-making force in the 2010s, many observers marked him out as a player who would claim multiple majors. They were right, of course, but the bold predictions , external of the curly-haired youngster from Holywood racking up figures to challenge Nicklaus and Woods proved too dizzy. McIlroy confidently claimed four majors between 2011 and 2014 to underline why he was considered a generational talent.

Claiming his third and fourth with back-to-back wins at the Open Championship and US PGA Championship in 2014 led to giddy thoughts of what he might go on to achieve. Talk immediately turned to McIlroy completing the career Grand Slam at the 2015 Masters. The weight of expectation began to bother McIlroy, not only when he made the annual pilgrimage to Augusta National, but at all of the majors.

The drought went on longer and longer as several chances were missed, most notably at the 2018 Masters, 2022 Open and back-to-back US Opens in 2023 and 2024. The question of 'when' McIlroy would win his fifth major began to be asked less.

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