Rory McIlroy has arguably cemented his place among golf's all-time greats, joining a select group whose achievements are carved into the sport's history.

Nonetheless, McIlroy's potential is far from fully realised.

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

In his 18 years on the tour, which is half his life as a professional golfer, McIlroy had never won three times before May. This has made him feel very free, like he is playing without pressure, and this feeling has nothing to do with the $13.2 million he has already won this year from just six starts on the PGA Tour.

He is the reigning Masters champion.

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

McIlroy showed great relief after winning, dropping his head on the 18th green with his chest heaving. He said the joy came soon after, which was clear from his face when Scottie Scheffler helped him put on the green jacket.

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

Would the ensuing month be a more opportune timeframe?

With the career Grand Slam now secured, speculation about a calendar Grand Slam this year seems timely, especially considering the upcoming majors appear to align favorably for him.

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

Last summer, players were posed a hypothetical scenario: if the frontrunner in the FedEx Cup were granted the prerogative to select the venue for the Tour Championship, where would it be staged? Rory McIlroy promptly nominated Quail Hollow.

The U.S. Open is at Oakmont, which is a large course that is good for players who hit the ball far. This course would probably be good for him, even though the last time he played there, he scored 77 in the first round. That round took two days because of rain, and he did not play in the tournament on the weekend.

The British Open is back at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, where McIlroy has unfinished business, having previously struggled there, notably beginning with an errant tee shot that led to a poor score and missing the cut.

He comes back with a greater sense of liberty than obligation.

While that is still far away, it shows how the talk about McIlroy has changed. People are no longer talking about what he was missing, but what more he can achieve.

Scheffler, present alongside him in Butler Cabin and during the trophy ceremony, remarked on Tuesday: "While I don't grasp the pressure of queries concerning the career Grand Slam, I can somewhat relate to facing questions like, ‘You've achieved this, yet you haven't achieved that,' which can be quite burdensome for individuals."

Brad Faxon, a close friend who collaborates with McIlroy on his putting technique, stated that there were no impediments to McIlroy's progress and that he possessed the capacity to significantly increase his major championship victories, suggesting he could ultimately secure ten.

According to Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, a youthful Tiger Woods possessed the foundational skills to secure ten Masters titles, equalling their combined achievement. Woods ultimately attained half of that total.

Before finishing the last 18 holes of the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, where he was about to win his first major, Rory McIlroy was highly praised by Padraig Harrington, who said, "If someone is going to challenge Jack's record, that's the person."

Nicklaus sets the benchmark in golf with 18 major championships, while McIlroy, with five, equals Brooks Koepka's tally, trailing Woods by a considerable ten.

It is understandable to be carried away by the excitement; this Masters is indeed comparable to some of the most memorable events at Augusta National, such as Woods' victories in 2019, 2001, and 1997, Nicklaus' wins in 1986 and 1975, and Arnold Palmer's triumph in 1960.

However, this achievement proved challenging for McIlroy, not only on that particular 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 sixteen prior attempts had McIlroy reached the back nine with a genuine opportunity for success.

Players such as Greg Norman, Tom Weiskopf, David Duval, and Ken Venturi, who carried greater psychological burdens, were significantly more impacted.

Two years ago, after almost winning the U.S. Open, McIlroy said he would have "100 Sundays like this" to win another major 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 achieve the career Grand Slam, joining Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Sarazen. However, only four of them actually 'won' the career slam because the modern idea of it didn't exist until Arnold Palmer said it was a thing in 1960.

Sarazen stands as the sole other player to achieve the slam at the Masters, accomplishing this feat in 1935 during its second iteration, a time when it was not yet officially known as the Masters. He secured victory in what was then officially termed the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Green jackets as awards were not introduced until 1949, and the tradition of the Masters Club dinner held on Tuesday nights did not commence until 1952.

McIlroy is truly the only player to finish the last part at the Masters. This tournament is special because it's the only major golf championship always held at the same place, and people remember it very clearly. This shows how unique this was.

To understand how big this achievement is, you need to think about not only the famous golfers he is now as good as, but also the great golfers who are not considered among the very best.

Sam Snead holds the PGA Tour record, sharing it with 82 career victories, a tally notably unaffected by his performance in the U.S. Open. Phil Mickelson, conversely, has surpassed McIlroy's achievements, his record lacking only that final component of the Grand Slam – coincidentally, also the U.S. Open.

Tom Watson amassed 39 career PGA Tour victories and eight major championships, while Arnold Palmer is widely regarded as the most influential figure in contemporary golf; neither, however, claimed the PGA Championship title.

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