[Photo: Adam Glanzman]
Rory McIlroy has now won the Masters. Where does he rank among golf’s all-time greats? Specifically, has he broken into the top 10 that unofficially serves as the sport’s pantheon?
When McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Masters, it gave him at least on my admittedly, undeniably and absolutely subjective list a powerful boost. I had him in the high teens before the victory and raised him to 12th afterwards. Others may feel that such a dramatic and popular victory is enough to get him top 10 status, if they had not already counted him in
It is not a specious case. With the Masters now complete, McIlroy, at age 36, has accumulated a distinguished body of work, with six major championships, 29 victories on the PGA Tour, including two Players Championships, 14 more on the DP World Tour and one Australian Open. He has also been World No.1 for 122 weeks over his career.
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But it is the career Grand Slam itself that most elevates him into all-time territory. The top four players on most lists, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones, have all achieved the feat, with Jones given credit for completing the original calendar slam in 1930, consisting of the US and British Opens and amateurs
Gary Player and Gene Sarazen are the other career Grand Slam winners and accordingly appear on most top-10 lists. Why then have I not included McIlroy with them in the top 10 until now? Because the margins at the very top of golf greatness are tight enough that, without a sixth major, I believed he fell just short of the credentials required.
Here’s the formidable mountain of greats and their accomplishments that I have in front of McIlroy:
1: Jack Nicklaus (18 majors, 73 PGA Tour victories, career Grand Slam)
2: Tiger Woods (15 majors, 82 PGA Tour victories, career Grand Slam)
3: Ben Hogan (9 majors, 64 PGA Tour victories, career Grand Slam)
4: Bobby Jones (7 professional majors, 6 amateur majors, original calendar Grand Slam)
5: Sam Snead (7 majors, 82 PGA Tour victories)
6: Arnold Palmer (7 majors, 62 PGA Tour victories)
7: Gary Player (9 majors, 24 PGA Tour victories, career Grand Slam)
8: Tom Watson (8 majors, 39 PGA Tour victories)
9: Walter Hagen (11 majors, 45 PGA Tour victories)
10: Gene Sarazen (7 majors, 38 PGA Tour victories, career Grand Slam)
[Photo: Stephen Denton]
To make my top 10, McIlroy at No. 12 had to jump over Sarazen and my No. 11, Byron Nelson, with five majors, 52 PGA Tour victories, including 11 in a row and 18 total in 1945. Winning the Masters for a sixth major has now done it.
Before going any further, here is the approximate criteria, in order of approximate priority, I am using to compare McIlroy against Sarazen and Nelson. The seven points are far from an exact science, but I am going to employ them with my best judgment to make a call that aligns with my gut instinct.
1 Major victories
2 Peak dominance
3 Sustained excellence
4 Total official victories
5 Special achievements Career Grand Slam, winning streaks, winning margins, extraordinary or memorable shots or skills
6 Strength of competition favouring more modern eras because of increasing depth
7 Fame importance to game
Against Nelson, it felt extremely close. With the Masters win, McIlroy now has one more major. Due to Nelson’s retirement at age 34, McIlroy has put together more sustained excellence, although Byron still wins peak dominance for his epic 1945 season. McIlroy has fewer total official victories 52 to 45, and fewer special achievements, with Nelson 11 in a row and 18 total wins in 1945 standing out. But McIlroy had to beat stronger competition and attained more fame. The final score 4 to 3 McIlroy feels right by the barest of margins.
Against Sarazen, McIlroy still has fewer majors, 7 to 6, more peak dominance, more sustained excellence, more total official victories, 45, counting DP World Tour wins and an Australian Open versus Sarazen, 39, fewer special achievements, but more strength of competition and more fame. For a final score of 5 to 2 McIlroy that also confirms my gut feeling.
So the Masters win moves McIlroy to 10th on my list and drops Sarazen to 11th and Nelson to 12th
I am well aware I have not even mentioned five tremendous players who all have multitudes who include them in their top 10s: Harry Vardon, Lee Trevino, Phil Mickelson, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. As much admiration and respect as I have for all of them, they fall just short. My altered list also means that for me, McIlroy becomes the greatest European player of all time.
One thing is certain. Even at 36, McIlroy may still have more majors ahead. And for the moment, simply entering a list of golf all time top 10 greats may be too modest a goal.
