Rory McIlroy says career grand slam has not dimmed desire for further glory

Defending Masters champion Rory McIlroy does not want his year wearing the green jacket to end, but it has made him realise completing the career grand slam at Augusta 12 months ago did not fulfil his ambitions.

The Northern Irishman ended an 11-year wait to become only the sixth player in history after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to have all four majors on his record.

McIlroy’s outpouring of emotion on holing the winning putt in a play-off against Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose told its own story, but the 36-year-old believes there are plenty of chapters still to be written.

Tales from Masters Tuesday. #themasters pic.twitter.com/Qa8dytRtuI

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2026

First on the to-do list is becoming only the fourth man – and first in 24 years – after Nicklaus, Woods and Nick Faldo to win back-to-back Masters titles.

“For the past 17 years I just could not wait for the tournament to start and this year I wouldn’t care if the tournament never started. That’s sort of the difference,” McIlroy said of his status as returning champion.

“I feel so much more relaxed. I know that I’m going to be coming back here for a lot of years, going to enjoy the perks champions get here.

“It doesn’t make me any less motivated to play well and try to win the tournament.

“The story as it relates to me is, what do I do from now onwards? What motivates me? What gets me going? What do I still want to achieve in the game? And there’s still a lot that I want to do.

“You think every time you achieve something or have success that you’ll be happy, but then the goalposts move and they just keep nudging a little bit further and further out of reach.

“What I’ve realised is, if you can just