{"id":45499,"date":"2026-04-06T16:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T16:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:11:47","slug":"masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Masters 2026: New era reignites career Grand Slam dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#newest_member\" >newest member<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#Rory_McIlroy\" >Rory McIlroy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#Carlos_Alcaraz\" >Carlos Alcaraz<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#brink\" >brink<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#Jannik_Sinner\" >Jannik Sinner<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#Scotty_Scheffler\" >Scotty Scheffler<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#jordan_spies\" >jordan spies<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#Phil_Mickelson\" >Phil Mickelson<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/06\/masters-2026-new-era-reignites-career-grand-slam-dreams\/#Golden_Slam_The_absolute_pinnacle\" >Golden Slam: The absolute pinnacle<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014 When Rory McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam at last year&#8217;s Masters, winning all four of golf&#8217;s majors, he not only ended golf&#8217;s long drought of career Grand Slam winners. He sparked a remarkable gathering of talent in both men&#8217;s golf and tennis.<\/p>\n<p>Until McIlroy&#8217;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.)<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;s a very good chance we&#8217;ll see two more in the coming months&#8230;and maybe even three, if the golf gods are smiling on us. It&#8217;s an amazing blend of talent, and we&#8217;re clearly living in what will be called the good old days a few decades from now.<\/p>\n<p>One more thing to note: There is one level of career achievement that is even higher than the Career Grand Slam&#8230;but we&#8217;ll get to that in a moment. First, let&#8217;s analyze the new champions.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\">\n<p>Rory McIlroy won the trophy at last year&#8217;s Masters, completing a career Grand Slam with his victory. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip, File)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"caption-credit\">    (Related news)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"the-newest-members\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"newest_member\"><\/span>newest member<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"rory-mcilroy\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rory_McIlroy\"><\/span><strong>Rory McIlroy<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Grand slam marker: <\/strong>US Open (2011), PGA Championship (2012), British Open (2014), Masters (2025)<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opportunity needed to end career slam: <\/strong>10<\/p>\n<p><strong>perspective: <\/strong>A lesson in tenacity. Augusta National tormented McIlroy for a decade and a half, finally mastering it in 2025.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"carlos-alcaraz\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Carlos_Alcaraz\"><\/span>Carlos Alcaraz<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Grand slam marker: <\/strong>US Open (2022), Wimbledon (2023), French Open (2024), Australian Open (2026)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opportunity needed to end career slam: <\/strong>2<\/p>\n<p><strong>perspective: <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Jannik Sinner kisses the trophy after winning the men's singles final on Center Court on day 14 of the 2025 Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Club Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England, on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Tom Jenkins\/Getty Images)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/__5U6096.WZQ2F_b6ua9rg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/2026-04\/3bbc1bb9-f2b7-4895-9836-bd2e36c29364\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\">\n<p>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)<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"caption-credit\">    (Tom Jenkins, via Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"on-the-brink\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"brink\"><\/span>brink<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"jannik-sinner\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Jannik_Sinner\"><\/span>Jannik Sinner<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Grand slam marker: <\/strong>Australian Open (2024), US Open (2024), Wimbledon (2025)<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opportunity needed to end career slam: <\/strong>Not yet, first French Open chance will be in May<\/p>\n<p><strong>perspective:<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"scottie-scheffler\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Scotty_Scheffler\"><\/span>Scotty Scheffler<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Grand slam marker: <\/strong>Masters (2022), PGA Championship (2025), British Open Championship (2025)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chance to end career slam: <\/strong>Not yet, first US Open chance is in June<\/p>\n<p><strong>perspective: <\/strong>Well, that was quick. In just two months, Scheffler was at the point where he was like, &#8220;Can I win anywhere but Augusta?&#8221; &#8220;Will he win anywhere on earth?&#8221; His first crack at a career Grand Slam will be at Shinnecock in June, and he will be the favorite to win.<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"jordan-spieth\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"jordan_spies\"><\/span>jordan spies<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Grand slam marker: <\/strong>Masters (2015), US Open (2015), British Open Championship (2017)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chance to end career slam: <\/strong>9 or later<\/p>\n<p><strong>perspective: <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"phil-mickelson\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Phil_Mickelson\"><\/span>Phil Mickelson<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Grand slam marker: <\/strong>Masters (2004), PGA Championship (2005), Open Championship (2013)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chance to end career slam: <\/strong>12 onwards<\/p>\n<p><strong>perspective: <\/strong>Mickelson&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s no guarantee that Scheffler or Sinner will shut out the slams. History is full of legendary figures who didn&#8217;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&#8217;t win the French Open either.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading\" data-jump-link-target=\"\" id=\"the-golden-slam-the-absolute-pinnacle\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Golden_Slam_The_absolute_pinnacle\"><\/span>Golden Slam: The absolute pinnacle<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Sure, a career grand slam is great, but do you know what&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s Masters, the U.S. Open will be even more interesting.)<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014 When Rory McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam at last year&#8217;s Masters, winning all four of golf&#8217;s majors, he not only ended golf&#8217;s long drought of career Grand Slam winners. He sparked a remarkable gathering of talent in both men&#8217;s golf and tennis. Until McIlroy&#8217;s victory, only 10 people had completed a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[317,2283,1770,36,4576,3649,37,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-45499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-career","9":"tag-dreams","10":"tag-era","11":"tag-grand","12":"tag-masters","13":"tag-reignites","14":"tag-slam","15":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}