The after party is over, no doubt a good one with only the finest of wines utilised to celebrate a vintage win for the ages, and Rory McIlroy’s next Major assignment in adding to an already loaded curriculum vitae will come quickly with next month’s US PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia.
Indeed, it is all quick-fire on the schedule for the Majors, ever since golf’s return to the Olympics in 2016 provided the catalyst for the PGA’s switch from its traditional August slot to May. One follows another in a monthly sequence, with the Masters followed by the PGA followed by the US Open (at Shinnecock Hills) in June and finally The Open (at Royal Birkdale) in July.
What McIlroy achieved in successfully retaining the Masters title was momentous, joining only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, as the only men to successfully go back-to-back at the Masters, but it also brought to 12 the number of Major championship wins by Irish golfers since Pádraig Harrington’s breakthrough win in The Open at Carnoustie in 2007.
Harrington’s claret jug success that year ended a 60-year drought dating back to Fred Daly’s lifting of that oldest of trophies in 1947, which had been the only Major won by an Irish golfer to that point.
This golden generation of Irish golfers has reaped a rich harvest, with Harrington providing the kick-start – and the inspiration to others – and McIlroy scaling heights never before achieved by European golfers.
McIlroy’s sixth career Major enabled him to join Faldo on that number – the most of the modern era, although Harry Vardon won seven (six Opens and one US Open) which were achieved from 1896 to 1914, before the modern Grand Slam came to be – but, while Faldo’s six titles came in two championships (three Masters, three Opens), McIlroy’s have been spread wider in winning all four (two Masters, two USPGAs, one Open and one US Open).
The collection of 12 Majors by Irish players – McIlroy (6), Harrington (3), Darren Clarke (1), Graeme McDowell (1), Shane Lowry (1) – since Harrington’s first Major win in 2007 is actually the second-most in that time, behind only the golfing superpower of the USA which leads on 40. After the Irish dozen, the next best since the 2007 Open up to the 2026 Masters is South Africa with four, followed by England, Spain and Australia with three.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland kneels near his daughter, Poppy McIlroy, during the Green Jacket ceremony. Photograph: Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty
Given how McIlroy has kicked on since scaling his Everest by winning last year’s Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, and without the baggage of that 11-year drought from 2014 to 2025 to carry any longer, the expectation is that he will add to that total, while Lowry and Harrington are also in all three remaining Majors this year.
Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald – who as in Adare Manor during the week ahead of the resort hosting next year’s defence of the trophy against the USA – had been in Augusta to witness McIlroy’s win and also the strong challenges of Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose and, until the disappointing final round, of Lowry.
“What Rory is achieving as a European golfer and obviously on the world stage is quite something. Isn’t it, at this stage? We’ve all known for a long time how talented Rory is. He kind of got a little bit stuck on four Majors for a while, but there’s something happened last year when he won Augusta for the first time and it has just freed him up,” said Donald, adding:
“It wouldn’t surprise me that he goes on to win a few more Majors. I remember the exuberance he had when I first played with him back in 2007. He sort of seems to have that little bit of a step back, with what winning the Masters in 2025 released. It’s incredible to see and just as a Ryder Cup captain, it was great to see so many other Europeans up there as well on the leaderboard.
“Rory’s a great person to have as a team-mate, not just because of how good he is at golf. He’s very motivating, I think, for the other guys. He understands that his personal individual legacy is important, but there’s also very much an element to the Ryder Cup and how much that means.
“I think some of his best experiences have been in Ryder Cups as well. He loves that team atmosphere, loves being in the team room. He loves the rivalry that the Ryder Cup is. And he gives me a lot, you know,. He’s a great team-mate, to Tommy, to Shane, to, to all the other partners that he’s been with.”