{"id":536464,"date":"2026-04-17T19:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/536464\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T19:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:17:10","slug":"rory-mcilroys-masters-is-the-12th-irish-major-since-2007-as-island-punches-above-its-weight-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/536464\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy\u2019s Masters is the 12th Irish Major since 2007 as island punches above its weight \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>\u2019s next Major assignment in adding to an already loaded curriculum vitae will come quickly with next month\u2019s US PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it is all quick-fire on the schedule for the Majors, ever since golf\u2019s return to the Olympics in 2016 provided the catalyst for the PGA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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 P\u00e1draig Harrington\u2019s breakthrough win in The Open at Carnoustie in 2007.<\/p>\n

Harrington\u2019s claret jug success that year ended a 60-year drought dating back to Fred Daly\u2019s lifting of that oldest of trophies in 1947, which had been the only Major won by an Irish golfer to that point.<\/p>\n

This golden generation of Irish golfers has reaped a rich harvest, with Harrington providing the kick-start \u2013 and the inspiration to others \u2013 and McIlroy scaling heights never before achieved by European golfers.<\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s sixth career Major enabled him to join Faldo on that number \u2013 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 \u2013 but, while Faldo\u2019s six titles came in two championships (three Masters, three Opens), McIlroy\u2019s have been spread wider in winning all four (two Masters, two USPGAs, one Open and one US Open).<\/p>\n

The collection of 12 Majors by Irish players \u2013 McIlroy (6), Harrington (3), Darren Clarke (1), Graeme McDowell (1), Shane Lowry (1) \u2013 since Harrington\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"RoryRory McIlroy of Northern Ireland kneels near his daughter, Poppy McIlroy, during the Green Jacket ceremony. Photograph: Ben Jared\/PGA Tour via Getty <\/p>\n

Given how McIlroy has kicked on since scaling his Everest by winning last year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald \u2013 who as in Adare Manor during the week ahead of the resort hosting next year\u2019s defence of the trophy against the USA \u2013 had been in Augusta to witness McIlroy\u2019s win and also the strong challenges of Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose and, until the disappointing final round, of Lowry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Rory is achieving as a European golfer and obviously on the world stage is quite something. Isn\u2019t it, at this stage? We\u2019ve 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\u2019s something happened last year when he won Augusta for the first time and it has just freed him up,\u201d said Donald, adding:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cRory\u2019s a great person to have as a team-mate, not just because of how good he is at golf. He\u2019s very motivating, I think, for the other guys. He understands that his personal individual legacy is important, but there\u2019s also very much an element to the Ryder Cup and how much that means. <\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019s a great team-mate, to Tommy, to Shane, to, to all the other partners that he\u2019s been with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The after party is over, no doubt a good one with only the finest of wines utilised to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,2623,101,10509,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-536464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-rory-mcilroy","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-the-masters","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}