AUGUSTA, Ga. — When Rory McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam at last year’s Masters, winning all four of golf’s majors, he not only ended golf’s long drought of career Grand Slam winners. He sparked a remarkable gathering of talent in both men’s golf and tennis.
Until McIlroy’s victory, only 10 people had completed a career Grand Slam in golf or tennis. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Novak Djokovic have all accomplished the feat three times, while Rafael Nadal has accomplished it twice. Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer achieved similar results. (Note: Tennis records date back to the beginning of the Open Era in 1968, while golf records date back to 1934.)
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Earlier this year, Carlos Alcaraz had an incredibly quick rise to the top of his career Grand Slam, winning all four tournaments in less than four years. And there’s a very good chance we’ll see two more in the coming months…and maybe even three, if the golf gods are smiling on us. It’s an amazing blend of talent, and we’re clearly living in what will be called the good old days a few decades from now.
One more thing to note: There is one level of career achievement that is even higher than the Career Grand Slam…but we’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s analyze the new champions.
Rory McIlroy won the trophy at last year’s Masters, completing a career Grand Slam with his victory. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
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newest member
Rory McIlroy
Grand slam marker: US Open (2011), PGA Championship (2012), British Open (2014), Masters (2025)
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Opportunity needed to end career slam: 10
perspective: A lesson in tenacity. Augusta National tormented McIlroy for a decade and a half, finally mastering it in 2025.
Carlos Alcaraz
Grand slam marker: US Open (2022), Wimbledon (2023), French Open (2024), Australian Open (2026)
Opportunity needed to end career slam: 2
perspective: Alcaraz is simply a dominant figure right away. By the time he was 23 years old, he had won a total of seven tournaments, and now has two career wins and is one win away from the Australian Open.
With his win at Wimbledon last year, Jannik Sinner is one step closer to winning the French Open and one step closer to completing his career Grand Slam. (Photo by Tom Jenkins/Getty Images)
(Tom Jenkins, via Getty Images)
brink
Jannik Sinner
Grand slam marker: Australian Open (2024), US Open (2024), Wimbledon (2025)
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Opportunity needed to end career slam: Not yet, first French Open chance will be in May
perspective: Like Alcaraz, Sinner opened fire. He has won all four major tournaments since 2024. And for the next 10 years, he will face Alcaraz in every tournament.
Scotty Scheffler
Grand slam marker: Masters (2022), PGA Championship (2025), British Open Championship (2025)
Chance to end career slam: Not yet, first US Open chance is in June
perspective: Well, that was quick. In just two months, Scheffler was at the point where he was like, “Can I win anywhere but Augusta?” “Will he win anywhere on earth?” His first crack at a career Grand Slam will be at Shinnecock in June, and he will be the favorite to win.
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jordan spies
Grand slam marker: Masters (2015), US Open (2015), British Open Championship (2017)
Chance to end career slam: 9 or later
perspective: Spieth came close to completing his contract in 2019 by finishing T3 at the PGA, but has slowly regressed since then. He missed the PGA last year for the first time since 2014.
Phil Mickelson
Grand slam marker: Masters (2004), PGA Championship (2005), Open Championship (2013)
Chance to end career slam: 12 onwards
perspective: Mickelson’s six (!) runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open are a brutal slap in the face from the golf gods. He has missed out on the last four U.S. Opens, and his chances are almost certainly closed.
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There’s no guarantee that Scheffler or Sinner will shut out the slams. History is full of legendary figures who didn’t make it. Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson, no matter what skill they had, could never win the PGA Championship outright, and Jimmy Connors couldn’t win the French Open either.
Golden Slam: The absolute pinnacle
Sure, a career grand slam is great, but do you know what’s even greater? Throw the Olympic gold medal on top of that mountain. Three male tennis players have completed the Golden Slam: Agassi, Nadal and Djokovic. Since golf was excluded from the Olympics from 1904 to 2016, Nicklaus, Woods, and others, Al. I didn’t have a chance to claim it, but do you know who did? Scottie Scheffler, of course, finished with a 62 at the 2024 Paris Games, one of the great rounds of the 21st century. (Also keep an eye on 2020 gold medalist and two-time major champion Xander Schauffele. If he wins next week’s Masters, the U.S. Open will be even more interesting.)
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Why do we see so much excellence within such a narrow cross-section of sports history? We can make some assumptions about training methods and nutrition, but the same applies to competition. Honestly, the truth defies any serious data analysis. McIlroy, Alcaraz, Scheffler, and Sinner are all incredibly talented athletes who would have been successful in any era of their chosen sport, and we are fortunate that they all reached the pinnacle of their power in our world.
