He will be 36 next month and thinks he plays better than he did 10 years ago. There is not much evidence to say this is not true.

In his 18 years as a professional golfer, McIlroy had never won three times before May. He felt more relaxed than ever before.

He emerged victorious in the prestigious Masters tournament.

He now has a locker upstairs at Augusta National. There, he will always have a green jacket. He also gets to join the Masters Club dinner on Tuesday nights. He worked for 11 years to achieve this. It must feel amazing.

McIlroy felt a lot of relief after winning, which you could see from his heavy breathing and how he put his head down on the 18th green. He said he felt happy very soon after that, and this was clear from his face when Scottie Scheffler helped him put on the green jacket.

"What will we all talk about next year?" McIlroy asked. He said this first in a private place and then in public. This shows how free he feels.

Would next month be a more suitable timeframe?

He has won all four major tournaments in his career. Now, we can start thinking about whether he could win all four in one year, because the remaining tournaments this year seem good for him.

Next month, the PGA Championship will be at Quail Hollow, and McIlroy has won there four times.

Last summer, he and other players were asked a fun, made-up question: If the top player in the FedEx Cup could pick the place for the final tournament, where would it be? McIlroy quickly chose Quail Hollow.

The U.S. Open golf tournament is at Oakmont, a long course that is good for players who hit the ball a long way. This would be good for him, but the last time he played there, his first round took two days because of rain and he had to leave before the end of the tournament.

The British Open is back at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, a place where McIlroy wants to do better. The last time he played there, he was so hopeful and expected so much that his first shot went outside the playing area. He then took 8 shots on that hole and did not play in the final rounds.

He returns feeling less limited than stressed.

That is still far in the future, but it shows how people are now talking about McIlroy. Instead of focusing on what he was missing, they are talking about what more he can achieve.

Scheffler, who was with him at the award ceremony, said on Tuesday: "I don't know what it feels like to be asked about winning all four major tournaments. But I do understand a little what it feels like to be asked, 'You did this, but you haven't done that.' This can be very difficult for people sometimes."

Brad Faxon, a friend who helps McIlroy with his putting, thinks McIlroy can win many more major tournaments now.

Famous golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus believed that young Tiger Woods had the ability to win ten green jackets, which was the same number they won together. Woods won five.

Before Rory McIlroy won his first major golf tournament, the 2011 U.S. Open, Padraig Harrington said about him, "If someone is going to challenge Jack Nicklaus's record, it's him."

Nicklaus holds the record in golf with 18 major wins. McIlroy currently has five, the same as Brooks Koepka, which is ten less than Woods.

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

However, this was hard for McIlroy. It had been 11 years since he won a major tournament, and winning the Masters was his dream, but he only had a real chance of winning twice in his previous 16 attempts.

Players like Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf, David Duval, and Ken Venturi had a much tougher time and were more emotionally affected.

Two years ago, McIlroy said he would have 100 difficult Sundays to win another major tournament. He would have 1,000 difficult Sundays to win a green jacket, especially because it was so important.

McIlroy is now the sixth golfer to win all four major tournaments in his career, like Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Sarazen. But only four of them won it in the way we think of it now, because the idea of the 'career Grand Slam' didn't exist until Arnold Palmer gave it that name in 1960.

Only one other player has completed the slam at the Masters. That was Sarazen in 1935. The tournament was only in its second year then and was not called the Masters. Its name was the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Green jackets were first given in 1949. The Masters Club dinner on Tuesday night started in 1952.

McIlroy is really the only player to win the last part of the Masters. People remember the Masters best because it's the only major golf tournament that is always played at the same place. This shows how special it was.

To see how big this achievement is, think about the famous players he is now compared to, and also the important players who are not considered among the best in golf history.

Sam Snead has won 82 times on the PGA Tour, the same number as anyone else. He hasn't won the U.S. Open. Phil Mickelson has done better than McIlroy, but he also hasn't won the U.S. Open.

Tom Watson won 39 PGA Tour events and eight major championships. Palmer is thought by many to be the most important person in modern golf. However, neither of them won the PGA Championship.

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