Rory McIlroy completes career grand slam at 2025 Masters: List of six golfers who accomplished legendary feat

With his dramatic playoff victory over Justin Rose at the 2025 Masters, Rory McIlroy not only won his first green jacket and ended a major championship drought that stretched back to 2014 but also became just the sixth man to complete the career grand slam by capturing titles at all four major championships — the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Because the Masters did not exist until 1934, some credit Bobby Jones with such a feat given he won the Amateur Championship, which was held in Britain. However, after McIlroy’s win, only six have completed the “modern” or “professional” career grand slam.

Gene Sarazen was the first player to do so, though it may have come sooner if all four tournaments had existed earlier in his illustrious career. Sarazen broke onto the golfing scene in 1922 when he won the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship at 20 years old. He added another PGA Championship in 1923, and in 1932, he won the U.S. Open and The Open, completing what at that point was the trifecta of major championships.

After not playing in the inaugural Masters, Sarazen won it in 1935 and became the first person to complete what is now considered the career grand slam.

Ben Hogan joined Sarazen (doubling the club) 18 years later. Hogan captured his first major at the 1946 PGA Championship, nabbed his first U.S. Open victory in 1948 and donned his first green jacket in 1951. His 1953 season, though, is regarded as one of the finest in the sport’s history. He won the Masters, the U.S. Open and The Open — the final leg of his career grand slam. We’ll never know if he could have pulled off the calendar grand slam: The Open and the PGA Championship were held concurrently.

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were the next two players to join the club, the rivals battling against one another many times throughout their careers. Player completed his career grand slam at the 1965 Open Championship, the only time he won The Open. Nicklaus’ effort concluded at at The Open one year later, though he would also go on to win it in 1970 and 1978.

Nicklaus is one of just two players to win the career grand slam three times over, the other being Tiger Woods.

Woods completed his first slam at The Open in 2000, part of the unparalleled “Tiger Slam” run in which he stood as the reigning champion at all four majors simultaneously, concluding with the 2021 Masters

Here’s a look at every modern career grand slam, including the tournament in which the player achieved the feat in bold.

Career grand slams in golf