After a wait of 11 years to complete his career Grand Slam, it was understandable that Rory McIlroy’s outpouring of relief at claiming his maiden Green Jacket at The Masters would also be met with accolades the world over.
For example, in the immediate aftermath of his playoff win over Justin Rose at Augusta National, Tiger Woods led the praise for McIlroy, with the likes of Sir Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson and Gary Player also offering their congratulations to the new champion.
The recognition of McIlroy’s achievement, which saw him become just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam, wasn’t limited to fans and high-profile figures from the golf world, either. The Royal Mail also marked the achievement with a special postmark applied to all its stamped mail for a limited time.
The UK postal service made the announcement on social media, writing: “Following Rory McIlroy’s historic win at the US Masters on Sunday, becoming only the sixth male golfer to complete a career Grand Slam, we'll be applying a special postmark on stamped mail from Tuesday 15 April to Thursday 17 April.”
During that period, all stamped mail was postmarked with the message: “Congratulations, Rory McIlroy, on completing your career Grand Slam!”
That news was picked up by The Athletic’s Gabby Herzig, who, along with an image of the postmark wrote on X: “This is incredible - every piece of mail in the UK from April 15-17 has been stamped with a special congratulatory message for Rory.”
This is incredible — every piece of mail in the UK from April 15-17 has been stamped with a special congratulatory message for Rory. (H/T @lmwilliamson7) pic.twitter.com/713hg2RzA3April 17, 2025
The move by the Royal Mail went down well with fans, with one describing it as a “class act” and another speculating as to whether McIlroy will follow in the footsteps of six-time Major winner Faldo in receiving a knighthood in the not-too-distant future.
While that is perhaps a story for another day, the Royal Mail’s gesture accentuated McIlroy’s historic achievement of the career Grand Slam, with the last player to accomplish it being Tiger Woods after his Open win in 2000.
Along with Woods, McIlroy now belongs to an extremely exclusive list of the world’s greats, with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Player the only others to complete the career Grand Slam. Despite McIlroy now being part of that select group, there is a player who went one better – Bobby Jones, who won every Major in the same year in 1930.
With the shackles off after finally winning The Masters, McIlroy's admittedly unlikely attempt to emulate Jones continues in the year's second Major, the PGA Championship, which begins on 15 May.
