He will be 36 next month. He thinks he plays better now than he did 10 years ago, and it seems true.

Rory McIlroy has played golf for 18 years. He has never won three times before May in those years. Now he feels very free and relaxed. This is because he has already won a lot of money this year, over 13 million dollars, in just six games.

He won the Masters golf competition. It was a big win for him.

He now has a locker upstairs at the Augusta National clubhouse. A size 38 green jacket will always be there for him. He can also always sit at the table for the Masters Club dinner on Tuesday night. It took him 11 years to do this. He must feel very happy.

McIlroy felt very relieved after winning. He put his head down, and his chest moved quickly. He said he felt happy soon after. You could see this on his face when someone helped him put on the green jacket.

McIlroy felt free and asked, "What will we all talk about next year?"

Perhaps we could consider next month?

He has won all four big tennis tournaments in his career. Now, people are thinking if he can win all four in the same year. The other big tournaments this year seem good for him.

Next month, the PGA Championship is at Quail Hollow. Rory McIlroy has won there four times.

He was one of the players who answered a fun question last summer. The question was, 'If the best player could choose where the last game would be, where would it be?' McIlroy quickly said Quail Hollow.

The U.S. Open is at Oakmont. This is a long golf course good for players who hit the ball far. This could be good for him. But last time he played there, he didn't play well because of rain and didn't stay for the weekend.

The British Open is back at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. This is Rory McIlroy's home. He wants to do better this time. Last time at Portrush, he hoped to do well, but his first shot went outside the playing area. He got a very bad score on the first hole and could not play in the rest of the tournament.

He has more freedom than before and feels less pressure.

That will happen much later, but it shows how people are talking about McIlroy now. They don't talk about what he needed but about what more he can get.

Scheffler said it can be difficult when people ask you about things you haven't achieved, even if you have achieved other good things.

Brad Faxon, a friend who helps McIlroy with putting, said McIlroy can win many more big tournaments, maybe ten.

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus thought young Tiger Woods could win 10 green jackets. This was the same number they won together. Woods won five.

Before Rory McIlroy won his first big golf competition, another player said, 'He can beat Jack's record.'

Nicklaus has 18 big wins, which is the most in golf. McIlroy has five wins, like Brooks Koepka. This is 10 less than Woods.

It's easy to get excited. This Masters is one of the best times at Augusta National, like when Woods won in 2019, 2001, and 1997, Nicklaus in 1986 and 1975, and Arnold Palmer in 1960.

But this was hard for McIlroy. He had not won a big competition in 11 years. He really wanted to win the Masters, but he only had a good chance to win on the last nine holes two times before.

Players like Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf, David Duval, and Ken Venturi had a more difficult time and felt more pain.

McIlroy said two years ago that he would have many difficult Sundays to win another big golf competition. He would have many, many difficult Sundays to win the green jacket, because it was very important to him.

McIlroy is now the sixth player to win all four big golf tournaments in his career. The other players are Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Sarazen. Only four of them won it after 1960, because people did not think of winning all four tournaments as a special thing until that time.

Another player, Sarazen, also won all four big tournaments at the Masters. This was in 1935. It was the second time the tournament happened, and it wasn't called the Masters yet. Sarazen won the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Players didn't get green jackets until 1949, and the Masters Club dinner didn't start until 1952.

McIlroy was the only player to win the last part of the Masters. The Masters is special because it is always at the same place, and people remember things there very well. This shows how important his win was.

This is a very big achievement because not many golfers have done this well.

Sam Snead has won 82 times on the PGA Tour. This is a record he shares. He has not won the U.S. Open. Phil Mickelson has won more than McIlroy. But Phil also has not won the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open is one of the four big golf tournaments.

Tom Watson won 39 golf tournaments and eight major tournaments in his career. Many people say Palmer had the biggest effect on modern golf. Neither of them won the PGA Championship.

McIlroy started to think if he would be one of the good players who almost won big things. Winning the Masters stops him worrying about that. Now, we will see how much more he can do.