Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy this year became just the fourth player to win the Masters back-to-back, following in the footsteps of Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.

12 months earlier, his triumph at Augusta saw him become the sixth man in history to win the career Grand Slam. He joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Nicklaus and Woods in achieving the feat by winning all four major championships.

The success in 2025 was McIlroy's first major since the 2014 PGA Championship, after which he amassed four second places and 21 top 10 finishes before finally adding to his tally.

His first four majors came before the age of 26, including the The 143rd Open at Royal Liverpool.

He has also triumphed 20 times on the DP World Tour, and won his seventh Race to Dubai title in November. He is now just one behind the record of Colin Montgomerie.

On his eighth Ryder Cup appearance in 2025 McIlroy was part of the European team which secured an historic away victory at Bethpage Black.

He was an eight-shot winner of both the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA Championship, the first of those making him at 22 the youngest holder of the trophy since Bobby Jones in 1923.

At 17 he was European amateur champion and at 18 was the leading amateur at The Open.

To date McIlroy has enjoyed nine spells as world No 1.