With six important figures now recognized in golf history at Mount Rushmore, Rory McIlroy's place there shows he has reached the very top of the sport.

Yet, a substantial future unfolds for McIlroy.

He will be 36 next month and thinks he plays better now than he did 10 years ago. However, there is not much proof that this is true.

In his 18 years as a professional golfer, McIlroy had never won three times before May. This year, he feels very free and is playing without pressure, which is not because of the large amount of money he has already won on the PGA Tour.

He is the reigning Masters champion.

He has now secured a permanent locker upstairs in the Augusta National clubhouse, where a size 38 green jacket will perpetually await him, alongside a guaranteed seat at the prestigious Masters Club dinner on Tuesday evening. This culmination represents a journey spanning eleven years, undoubtedly a profound and exhilarating sensation.

McIlroy's chest was moving up and down with relief when he put his head down on the 18th green after winning. He said the happiness came soon after, which you could see on his face when Scottie Scheffler helped him put on the green jacket.

"What will we all talk about next year?" McIlroy asked, first in Butler Cabin and later to start his news conference. He feels free because of this.

Would it be feasible to revisit this matter next month?

Now that he has won all four major tournaments in his career, it's worth thinking about whether he could win all of them in one year. The other major tournaments this year seem to be in his favor.

The PGA Championship will take place next month at Quail Hollow, a venue where McIlroy has claimed victory on four occasions.

Among the players surveyed about a hypothetical scenario last summer, which asked where they would hold the Tour Championship if they were the FedEx Cup leader, McIlroy promptly chose Quail Hollow.

The U.S. Open is at Oakmont, which is a large course that is good for players who hit the ball hard. This course should be good for him, just like it is for others. However, the last time he played there, he scored 77 in the first round. This round took two days because of rain, and he did not make it to the weekend.

The British Open returns to Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland, where McIlroy seeks to redeem himself after a disappointing prior performance on the course, where he began with an out-of-bounds tee shot, recorded a score of 8, and ultimately failed to qualify.

Upon his return, he experiences a greater sense of autonomy than constraint.

That remains some way in the future, but it serves as an illustration of the shift in the discourse surrounding McIlroy; the focus is now on what further achievements he can accrue, rather than his former shortcomings.

Scheffler, who was with him at Butler Cabin and for the trophy presentation, said on Tuesday, "I don't know what it's like to be asked about winning all the major tournaments, but I understand a little bit what it's like to be asked, 'You did this, but you haven't done that.' It can be very hard on people sometimes."

Brad Faxon, a close friend who collaborates with McIlroy on his putting technique, asserted that McIlroy is currently unstoppable and could potentially double his collection of major championships. Faxon confidently stated, "He is capable of securing another ten."

Famous golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus once said that a young Tiger Woods had the basic skills to win 10 green jackets, which is the same number they won together. Woods ended up winning half of that.

At the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, Rory McIlroy was 18 holes away from winning his first major. Padraig Harrington said about him, "If you want to talk about someone who could challenge Jack's record, he's the one."

Nicklaus holds the benchmark in golf with 18 major championship victories. McIlroy currently possesses five, mirroring Brooks Koepka's total, and is ten shy of Woods' count.

It's easy to get excited about this Masters. It's one of the best moments at Augusta National, like Woods' wins in 2019, 2001, and 1997, Nicklaus' in 1986 and 1975, and Arnold Palmer's in 1960.

However, this proved challenging for McIlroy, not just on Sunday, but throughout the preceding sixteen years. It had been eleven years since his last major victory, and despite the Masters being his ultimate ambition, in his previous sixteen attempts, McIlroy had only entered the back nine with a genuine prospect of winning on two occasions.

Yet, players such as Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf, David Duval, and Ken Venturi, burdened by greater emotional baggage, were demonstrably more affected.

Two years prior, following his near triumph at the U.S. Open, McIlroy had declared he would endure "100 Sundays of this nature" to secure another major title. He would undoubtedly have embraced 1,000 such Sundays to earn a green jacket, particularly given the considerable implications.

McIlroy is now the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam, joining Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Sarazen. However, only four of them truly 'won' the career slam as we know it today, because the modern idea of it didn't exist until Arnold Palmer said it did in 1960.

Sarazen stands as the only other player to achieve this feat at the Masters, accomplishing it in 1935 during the tournament's second iteration, which was then known as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Green jackets were not introduced until 1949, and the now-traditional Masters Club dinner only commenced in 1952.

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

To understand how big this achievement is, you need to think about not just the famous people he is now with, but also the important golfers who are not on the list.

Sam Snead holds a joint record on the PGA Tour with 82 career victories, a tally not achieved due to success in the U.S. Open. Phil Mickelson has surpassed McIlroy in various accomplishments, lacking only that elusive component of the Grand Slam, also the U.S. Open.

Tom Watson achieved 39 victories on the PGA Tour throughout his career, including eight major championships. Palmer is arguably the most influential figure in contemporary golf. Intriguingly, neither of them claimed a PGA Championship title.

McIlroy started to wonder if he would be one of the players who almost became great. Winning the Masters takes away that worry. Now, the only question is how much more he can achieve.