The Professional Golf Association, or PGA, has been around since 1916. There are four major tournaments (Majors) every year. The Open Championship was first played in 1860 but was added to the PGA Tour as a major in 1995. The U.S. Open was first played in 1896 and has been part of the PGA schedule since its first season in 1916. The PGA Championship has also been part of the PGA schedule since 1916. Lastly, the Masters was first played in 1934 and was added as a Major on the tour in 1960 (PGA.org).

Since 1916, only six golfers have been able to achieve the most difficult and prestigious award in golf, a “Career Grand Slam.” A Career Grand Slam is when a player wins all four Major golf tournaments (not all in one season). Those players include: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and, as of this previous Sunday, Rory McIlroy. After Nicklaus completed his Career Grand Slam, it would be another 36 years until Tiger did it in 2000. That just shows how challenging it is to complete a Grand Slam.

Rory joined the PGA Tour in 2010 after playing on the European Tour from 2007 to 2010. In 2011, he won the U.S. Open and set the record for the lowest 72-hole score with a 16-under, 268. McIlroy also won the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship. In 2014, he also won the Open Championship (ESPN). Winning three out of the four PGA Majors in just four years, surely Rory would complete his Grand Slam in the next few years at Augusta. McIlroy’s infamous choke on Sunday in 2011 would be one to remember, going into Sunday with a four-shot lead and shooting an 80, ending up tied for 15. Since 2009, Rory had missed three cuts but finished top five four times; his best finish was in 2022 when he finished second.

Many people believe that 2025 is Rory’s year, winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players. Heading into Sunday with a four-shot lead, many were hopeful and sure he would finally do it. The highly anticipated final group of Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau would be Rory’s chance to beat Bryson after the 2024 U.S. Open incident. Bryson could not repeat his Saturday round and finished fifth. Rory scored two double bogeys Sunday, and it felt like he was hanging on by a thread. Rory and Bryson have a tense, rivalry-like relationship.“On Sunday at the 2025 Masters, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau faced off in the latest edition of what has become golf’s best rivalry. While both players delivered blows on the course, they kept the talking to a minimum. Minimum meaning none at all,” said Kevin Cunningham of Golf.com. Rory was focused on not letting another Masters slip away, and he did not. “It’s such a battle in your head of trying to stay in the present moment and hit this next shot good and hit the next shot good,” said McIlroy. “That was the battle today. My battle today was with myself. It wasn’t with anyone else.” (Golf.com)

McIlroy was not going to let another Masters slip away. Rory and Justin Rose would go to a playoff. Rose parred the first playoff hole, leaving the door open for Rory, who then tapped the putt in for birdie to win. After sinking the putt, Rory let out all the emotions built up from the last fifteen years. Micheal Bamberger from Golf.com wrote from an interview with Rory, “There was a lot of pent-up emotion that just came out on that 18th green,” McIlroy said. “A moment like that makes all the years and all the close calls worth it.” He felt the weight off his shoulders and finally completed his “Career Grand Slam.”