The group of the best golfers, like Mount Rushmore, now has six faces. Because of this, Rory McIlroy should feel like he has reached the highest level in golf.

Yet, the trajectory of McIlroy's career holds considerable future potential.

Turning 36 next month, he is convinced of his enhanced abilities compared to a decade ago, and there is scant evidence to contradict this assertion.

In his 18 years as a professional golfer, which is half his life, McIlroy had never won three times before May. This success has made him feel very free, like he has nothing to lose. This feeling is separate from the $13.2 million he has already won this year in his six PGA Tour events.

He has clinched the coveted title of Masters champion.

He now has a locker upstairs at the Augusta National clubhouse. A size 38 green jacket will always be there for him. He also gets a seat at the Masters Club dinner on Tuesday nights. This took 11 years to achieve. It must be an amazing feeling.

McIlroy's chest was visibly moving up and down as he put his head down on the 18th green after winning, showing pure relief. He said, "The happiness came very soon after that," and you could see this clearly on his face when Scottie Scheffler helped him put on the green jacket.

"What will be the focus of our discussions next year?" McIlroy remarked, initially within Butler Cabin and subsequently at the commencement of his press conference. This reflects the liberation he experiences.

Would the following month be a more opportune moment?

Now that he has won a career Grand Slam, it's not too early to think about winning all the Grand Slams in one year. The other major tournaments this year seem likely to favor him.

The PGA Championship is scheduled for next month at Quail Hollow, a course where McIlroy has achieved victory on four separate occasions.

Last summer, he was one of the players who entertained a hypothetical query: if the FedEx Cup leader could select the venue for the Tour Championship, where would it be held? McIlroy immediately chose Quail Hollow.

The U.S. Open is held at Oakmont, a demanding course favouring powerful hitters, which should ideally suit him; however, his last appearance there saw him post a 77 in a rain-disrupted opening round stretched over two days, resulting in him missing the cut.

The British Open returns to Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland, presenting McIlroy with an opportunity for redemption following his previous challenging experience there.

He returns feeling more at ease than constrained.

That remains some time away, yet it exemplifies how the discourse surrounding McIlroy has shifted. It is no longer focused on his deficiencies but on what further achievements he can attain.

Scheffler, who was alongside him both in Butler Cabin and during the trophy presentation, offered this perspective on Tuesday: "While I lack personal experience with questions about the career Grand Slam, I can relate somewhat to being asked, 'You've achieved this, but you haven't yet accomplished that.' Such inquiries can, at times, be quite demanding for individuals."

Brad Faxon, a close friend who coaches McIlroy on his putting, stated that McIlroy is currently unstoppable and capable of doubling his number of major championship victories, adding that he could potentially win ten.

Famous golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus once thought that a young Tiger Woods had the basic skills to win ten green jackets, which was as many as they had won together. In the end, Woods won half that many.

Before the last round of the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, when McIlroy was close to winning his first major, Padraig Harrington said, "If someone is going to try and beat Jack's record, that's the person."

With his 18 major championships, Nicklaus is considered the benchmark in golf; McIlroy currently holds five, matching Brooks Koepka's tally and trailing Woods by ten.

It's easy to feel the excitement. This Masters is one of the great moments at Augusta National, like Woods' wins in 2019, 2001, and 1997, Nicklaus' wins in 1986 and 1975, and Arnold Palmer's win in 1960.

However, this proved a formidable challenge for McIlroy, not only on Sunday but throughout the preceding sixteen years. Eleven years had elapsed since his last major victory, and despite the Masters being his ultimate aspiration, only twice in his previous sixteen attempts had McIlroy reached the back nine with a genuine prospect of triumph.

Other players, such as Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf, David Duval, and Ken Venturi, were significantly more plagued by their past failures, accumulating deeper emotional wounds.

McIlroy said two years ago after he almost won the U.S. Open that he would have 100 Sundays like that to win another big tournament. He would have had 1,000 Sundays to win a green jacket, especially because of everything that was important.

McIlroy is now the sixth player to win a career Grand Slam, joining famous names like Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Sarazen. But only four of them really 'won' the career slam because the modern idea of it didn't exist until Arnold Palmer said it did in 1960.

Only Sarazen, in 1935, managed this rare feat at the event's second staging, which was then known as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, not the Masters. Green jackets as awards were introduced in 1949, and the Masters Club dinner on Tuesday evenings commenced in 1952.

McIlroy is the only player to win the last part at the Masters, where memories are strongest because it's the only major golf tournament always held at the same course. This shows how special this was.

To understand how great this achievement is, you need to look at who he is now as good as, and also who is surprisingly not considered among the very best in golf history.

Sam Snead holds a share of the PGA Tour record with 82 career victories, though his tally is not bolstered by a U.S. Open title. Phil Mickelson has surpassed McIlroy in accomplishments, save for that elusive component of the Grand Slam – also the U.S. Open.

Tom Watson had 39 PGA Tour wins and eight major titles, and Arnold Palmer was very influential in modern golf. However, neither of them won the PGA Championship.

McIlroy started to wonder if he would be one of the "almost" great players. Winning the Masters has removed this worry. Now, the only question is how much more he can achieve.