Let’s dream for a second.
Rory McIlroy just won the Masters, becoming the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam. However, can he win all four majors in 2025 for the Grand Slam?
It’s only been done twice—sort of. In 1930, Bobby Jones won the four majors of that era (the Amateur Championship, British Open, U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur) in a single season. Then, Tiger Woods completed the “Tiger Slam” by winning the 2000 U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship and the 2001 Masters, holding all four major titles at once; though, it technically wasn’t done in a single season.
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought about winning four consecutive majors,” Woods said after completing the “Tiger Slam.” “I’ve thought about winning majors, yes, but I don't think four ever entered, because you need to win one in order to win four.”
After McIlroy’s triumph in Augusta, next up is May’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where the Northern Irishman has won a record four Wells Fargo Championships (2010, 2015, 2021, 2024). He also lost in a playoff there in 2012 and finished T4 in 2016 and T8 in 2014 and 2019. Plus, he placed T22 at Quail’s 2017 PGA Championship.
“I love coming back here,” McIlroy said after last year’s Wells Fargo win. “I love spending time here. It’s a place that I’m very comfortable at with Quail Hollow, the city of Charlotte in general and the people. For whatever reason, I get so much great support here. I said it on the 18th green after I won there that all these people have sort of watched me grow up. I won here for the first time as a 20-year-old and now at 35, so they’ve sort of seen my progression throughout the years.”
DraftKings currently has McIlroy tied with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at +500 for the best odds to win the PGA Championship. If that happens, and McIlroy, the world No. 2, is halfway to the Grand Slam, what are his odds for the year’s final two majors?
He has the second-best odds behind Scheffler at +600 to win the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June and is tied again with Scheffler at +500 to win the British Open at Royal Portrush.
The last U.S. Open at Oakmont was in 2016. McIlroy missed the cut. However, the 7,300-yard layout tends to favor bombers like McIlroy, who is currently third on Tour in driving distance at 317 yards. Dustin Johnson, who won the ‘16 U.S. Open, was second in driving distance that season. At Oakmont’s 2007 U.S. Open, Angel Cabrera won. That year, he averaged 302 yards off the tee, which would have been ranked the Tour’s eighth longest, but he only made 14 starts that season.
This year’s British Open is at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland—McIlroy’s native land. McIlroy missed the cut there in 2019 by a shot and was emotional afterward. But if he learns from his mistakes to win on home soil, it might bring out the same emotions—if not greater—than completing the career Grand Slam at Augusta.
And completing the single-season Grand Slam there would be the ultimate fairytale.
McIlroy went 11 years without a major win and said a few years ago that he felt like he was trying to win his first again. Now, though, the monkey is off his back, which might allow him to play more freely. Heck, even with the weight on his shoulders, he won the Masters and the Players Championship this year.
“All of a sudden (McIlroy) might break through, win a major,” Jack Nicklaus said on Golf Channel in January. “Then he’s gonna probably win two or three more pretty quickly.”
Maybe the Golden Bear is right and the Masters opens the floodgates and culminates into a historic year, one golf has never seen before.
Most likely, it doesn’t, despite what the odds say. But isn’t hope what makes sports fun?
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy Has a Chance to Complete Single-Season Grand Slam, According to Oddsmakers.
