After Rory claimed a Masters victory and FINALLY getting the career Grand Slam, is he officially entering the top 10 greatest golfers in history?
There are a few names on the top 10 list that seem to be pretty universal among golf fans.
- Jack Nicklaus
- Tiger Woods
- Ben Hogan
- Bobby Jones
- Sam Snead
- Arnold Palmer
- Gary Player
but does Rory belong up there now? Also, I didn’t put these in any specific order. Everyone I chat with has different orders of this and it’s no point in me pretending I’m better than anyone at picking GOATs.
Rory McIlroy’s BEST shots of the 2025 PGA TOUR Season
Rory is the greatest golfer to come out of Europe.
We can agree on that, right? There’s been a ton of great European golfers. Of the 21 men to reach five major titles, only 6 of them are Europeans. 2 of those guys only won Open Championships…. BEFORE WORLD WAR 1.
Can we compare eras? It’s difficult I know. It’s kinda like the never ending Jordan vs Lebron vs Kobe comparisons. Different games and players.
side note: JORDAN IS THE GOAT
Nick Faldo has 6 major titles, one more than McIlroy… so that is tough, right? Not super tough…
Faldo and McIlroy both have exactly 19 top 5 finishes in major championships. The difference is that Rory did it in 64 appearances while Faldo did it in… 100. WHOA. Faldo also never won a U.S. Open, PGA Championship or Players Championship. Rory has all three and won the Players Champsionship 2 times.
They both have exactly 19 top-five finishes in major championships but McIlroy has done so in 64 appearances while Faldo needed 100. And Faldo, despite many years of attempts, never won a U.S. Open, PGA Championship or Players Championship. McIlroy has all three and he even won the Players Championship twice.