ROR-ing to the Top

Many people will remember June 19, 2011 as the beginning of Rory McIlroy's superstar golfing career as he took home his first Major Championship, winning the US Open at Congressional Golf Course by 8 strokes, and also set a record by finishing the tournament at -16, the lowest that anyone has gone in a US Open.

But had a few things gone his way in the last year, yesterday's so-called beginning to a career of greatness, might have actually been the finishing touch on a Rory McIlroy Grand Slam.


A Rare Feat

Winning the Grand Slam consists of winning all four Major Championships in the same calendar year. The Masters, US Open, British Open, and the PGA Championship.


Now nobody has ever won all four in one year, but these four tournaments have not always been considered the four majors.


Bobby Jones won the US Open, British Open, US Amateur, and British Amateur in 1930 and that time, this was considered the Grand Slam. The amateur tournaments were considered majors in 1930. The first Masters Tournament was not played until 1934, and the PGA Championship was just another tournament, not yet recognized as a major.

Six golfers have completed the "career" Grand Slam, which means they have won all four tournaments at some point in their career. Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, and Tiger Woods.

Woods was the only golfer to come anywhere close to the Grand Slam when in the year 2000, he won the US Open, British Open, and PGA Championship. Three out of four ain't bad. So the next year, Tiger came to the 2001 Masters at Augusta National Golf Course and claimed the green jacket. Technically, this wasn't considered the official Grand Slam, since he hadn't won all four in one year. But the fact was that Woods held all four championships at one point. So people dubbed this as the "Tiger Slam".

A McIlroy Slam?

We may never see a Grand Slam, or a "Tiger" Slam, again in golf. But what a lot of people don't realize is how close we were to a "Rory" Slam. And throw in the fact that he's 22 years old.

Let's take a look at the last four majors and see how the Rory Slam almost came to be:


2011 US Open

McIlroy leads from the beginning of the tournament on Thursday to the end of the tournament on Sunday, going wire-to-wire, and winning by a commanding 8 strokes. There was never any doubt he would win this one as he set numerous scoring records and put on one of the more dominating performances in Major Championship history.




2011 Masters

McIlroy leads after the first three rounds, and goes into Sunday at Augusta with a four shot lead. And even after a rough front nine, he still held a share of the lead heading into the back nine. But in one of the more shocking collapses in Masters history, McIlroy shot triple bogey-bogey-double bogey on the next three holes, and then drove his tee shot on 13 into the water. He ended the day shooting an 80, and finishing 10 shots back of the lead.




2010 PGA Championship

Everyone will remember this tournament for Dustin Johnson's fatal grounding of his club in a bunker, but many people may not remember the logjam at the top of the leaderboard in the final round. Seven players all held the lead at one point on Sunday, and McIlroy was one of those players. It came down to 18 where Rory needed to hole a 15-foot birdie putt to join Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson in a playoff, but McIlroy missed and ended up finishing the tournament tied for 3rd.




2010 British Open

McIlroy explodes out of the gate, shooting a 9-under 63 to lead after the first round. But in Friday's second round, McIlroy was troubled by a strong wind at the St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland, and shot a disappointing 80. That was the end for McIlroy, but he quietly posted two solid rounds, a 69 and a 68, on the weekend, finishing the tournament tied for third place.





I know a lot of people hate resorting to "what-if's" but what if McIlroy had kept it steady at Augusta? What if the Irish youngster holes the very makeable putt on 18 at the PGA Championship? What if the Scotland winds hadn't destroyed McIlroy in the 2nd round at the British Open?

Had the luck of the Irish been on Rory's side for those last three tournaments, we'd be talking today about one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history. But the way things are looking right now, there may be a few more brushes with a Rory Slam down the road.

We've had a Tiger roaring for nearly a decade at the top of the golf world, but now we have ourselves a new "Ror" at the top. And we might have to get used to this roar for quite a while.