With six visages now etched into the granite tableau of golf's Pantheon, Rory McIlroy can justifiably feel he has scaled its most rarefied apogee.

However, a considerably expansive trajectory stretches before McIlroy.

At 36 next month, he contends he surpasses his earlier performance a decade prior, a assertion for which compelling evidence to the contrary remains conspicuously absent.

In his decadal span plus two years on the circuit, a period encompassing half of his existence as a professional linksman, McIlroy has hitherto failed to secure three victories prior to the advent of May; a circumstance coinciding with an unprecedented sensation of liberation, an apparent consequence of playing with a sense of impunity utterly divorced from the considerable sum exceeding thirteen million dollars he has already amassed across his six outings on the PGA Tour this year alone.

Having definitively secured the coveted green jacket, he is now unequivocally the incumbent Masters champion.

His acquisition of a permanent locker within the hallowed confines of the Augusta National clubhouse, perpetually housing a bespoke size 38 green jacket, unequivocally confers upon him lifelong access to its privileged amenities, not least a coveted seat at the Masters Club dinner on Tuesday evening, culminating a decadal odyssey of unrelenting pursuit, a truly ineffable apotheosis of ambition.

McIlroy's perceptible relief, manifest in his heaving chest as he rested his head upon the 18th green post-victory, was profound. "The elation swiftly followed," he articulated, a sentiment unequivocally corroborated by his countenance as Scottie Scheffler assisted him in donning the coveted green jacket.

"What shall we collectively be expounding upon in the coming year?" posited McIlroy, initially within the confines of Butler Cabin and subsequently to commence his press conference, thereby encapsulating the emancipation he experiences.

Would the ensuing month prove more propitious?

The career Grand Slam having been consummated, it is now apposite to contemplate the prospect of a calendar Grand Slam; the remaining majors this year appear indeed propitious.

The forthcoming PGA Championship, slated for Quail Hollow next month, unfolds at a venue where McIlroy has previously demonstrated his mastery with a quartet of triumphs.

He was among the players who acceded to a hypothetical query last summer: if the leading player in the FedEx Cup were afforded the prerogative of designating the venue for the Tour Championship, which locale would they select? McIlroy promptly nominated Quail Hollow.

Oakmont, the host of the U.S. Open, is a capacious course that unequivocally advantages long hitters, a characteristic that would seemingly dovetail with his strengths; notwithstanding this apparent synergy, his most recent foray there culminated in a perfunctory 77 during an opening round protracted over two days by inclement weather, resulting in his premature exit before the weekend's play commenced.

The British Open's resumption at Royal Portrush, situated on Rory McIlroy's native Northern Irish terrain, assumes a particularly poignant significance for the golfer, affording him an opportunity for rectification following his previous, ignominious outing there. On that prior occasion at Portrush, the weight of his elevated aspirations and the sheer magnitude of his own expectations seemingly precipitated a catastrophic misstep, culminating in an opening tee shot driven out-of-bounds, an ensuing quintuple-bogey, and ultimately, his failure to advance beyond the cut.

His re-emergence is characterised by a preponderance of latitude over constraint.

This remains a protracted prospect, yet it serves as an exemplification of the paradigm shift in discourse concerning McIlroy, no longer preoccupied with his deficiencies but rather with his prospective advancements.

Scheffler, who was with him in Butler Cabin and during the trophy presentation, offered this observation Tuesday: "While I lack the experiential grounding to fully apprehend the ramifications of being questioned about the career Grand Slam, I possess a rudimentary grasp of the cognitive burden inherent in the line of questioning that juxtaposes one's achievements against perceived deficiencies, a process that can prove immensely taxing on individuals at times."

Brad Faxon, an intimate confidant and putting coach to McIlroy, posited that McIlroy faced no impediment to future triumphs and could potentially double his current haul of major championships. "He possesses the capability to accrue a total of ten such victories," Faxon averred.

The venerable Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus once prognosticated that a nascent Tiger Woods possessed the requisite foundational skills to claim a decuple of green jackets, a tally commensurate with their aggregate victories; Woods ultimately realised but a moiety of that ambitious target.

With eighteen holes remaining in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, a tournament in which McIlroy was yet to secure his maiden major championship, Pádraig Harrington opined, "Should one entertain the notion of a contender for Jack's venerable record, behold your protagonist."

In golf's hierarchy, Nicklaus reigns supreme with an unparalleled eighteen major championships; by contrast, McIlroy possesses a mere five, a tally matched by Brooks Koepka but dwarfed by Woods's record, registering a deficit of a full ten.

The palpable excitement is readily comprehensible; indeed, this Masters arguably merits inclusion among the pantheon of Augusta National's most transcendent moments, akin to Woods's triumphs in 2019, 2001, and 1997, Nicklaus's legendary victories in 1986 and 1975, and Arnold Palmer's historic win in 1960.

However, this was far from facile for McIlroy, neither on the recent Sunday in question nor across the preceding sixteen years; eleven years had elapsed since his last major triumph, and whilst clinching the Masters constituted his paramount aspiration, on merely two occasions out of sixteen prior attempts had McIlroy found himself on the back nine with a genuine opportunity to prevail.

More profoundly afflicted were players such as Greg Norman and Tom Weiskopf, David Duval, and Ken Venturi, all of whom carried a greater burden of psychological trauma.

McIlroy, following his narrow miss at the U.S. Open two years prior, declared his willingness to endure "100 Sundays such as that" for the acquisition of another major; he would undoubtedly countenance a thousand such Sundays, and indeed more, for the coveted green jacket, particularly in light of the considerable ramifications involved.

McIlroy now stands as the sixth golfer to attain the career Grand Slam, entering a pantheon alongside Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Sarazen.

However, a nuanced distinction arises: only four of these individuals truly "captured" the career slam in its contemporary sense, given that the modern iteration of this achievement was not formally recognised until Arnold Palmer's declaration in 1960.

Sarazen stands as the solitary other competitor to have achieved the Grand Slam at the Masters, accomplishing this feat in 1935 during the tournament's nascent iteration, which, at that juncture, bore the moniker of the Augusta National Invitation Tournament; it was only retrospectively, in 1949, that the iconic Green Jackets were introduced as the symbol of victory, preceding the institution of the convivial Masters Club dinner on the Tuesday evening of the event in 1952.

McIlroy stands as the singular contestant to conquer the ultimate stage at the Masters, an event uniquely imbued with profound historical resonance by virtue of its perpetual domicile at the same venue – a testament to its unparalleled significance.

To contemplate the magnitude of this accomplishment is to evaluate not only the esteemed company he now keeps but also the conspicuous absence of certain luminaries from golf's pantheon.

Sam Snead holds the PGA Tour record for career victories, a remarkable 82, though his quest for a U.S. Open title ultimately proved futile. Similarly, Phil Mickelson, despite a glittering career replete with major championships, still grapples with the conspicuous absence of that elusive U.S. Open triumph, a feat which distinguishes him from Rory McIlroy's more comprehensive major championship collection.

Tom Watson amassed a career tally of thirty-nine PGA Tour victories and eight major championships, whilst Palmer is widely regarded as the paramount figure of influence in contemporary golf; neither, however, secured a win at the PGA Championship.

McIlroy's burgeoning introspection regarding his potential consignment to the ranks of the perpetually "almost" finds its cathartic release in the attainment of the Masters title; the subsequent trajectory of his career now hinges solely upon the boundless reaches of his own ambition and formidable capabilities.