The 2025 Masters was epic. Watching Rory McIlroy complete the career Grand Slam wasn’t just another major victory. It was a moment of golf history. The term “Grand Slam” is often misunderstood. What does it really mean?

What is a Grand Slam in golf?

The Grand Slam in men’s professional golf refers to winning all four major championships:

The Masters The PGA Championship The U.S. Open The Open Championship

The two types of Grand Slams

There are technically two types of Grand Slams: the “career Grand Slam” and the “calendar-year Grand Slam.”

The career Grand Slam

This is the less elusive Grand Slam, the one Rory completed at the 2025 Masters. A career Grand Slam happens when you win each of the four majors at least once in your life. Only six male golfers in the modern era have done it.

The calendar-year Grand Slam

Winning all four majors in a single year is considered a calendar-year Grand Slam. Bobby Jones was able to pull this off as an amateur in 1930, when the four majors were considered the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur.

No player has won all four major championships in a year since Jones.

Tiger Woods came pretty close. He claimed the “Tiger Slam” by winning the final three majors of 2000 and then the 2001 Masters in succession.

Which professional golfers have a career Grand Slam?

Only six male professionals have won all four modern majors in their career. Here’s the full list and how long it took them to finish.

Golfer	First Major Won	Final Major to Complete Slam	Years to Complete
Gene Sarazen	1922 U.S. Open	1935 Masters	13 years
Ben Hogan	1946 PGA Championship	1953 Open Championship	7 years
Gary Player	1959 Open Championship	1965 U.S. Open	6 years
Jack Nicklaus	1962 U.S. Open	1966 Open Championship	4 years
Tiger Woods	1997 Masters	2000 Open Championship	3 years
Rory McIlroy	2011 U.S. Open	2025 Masters	14 years

Rory finally got his green jacket at the 2025 Masters, ending years of speculation and near-misses. He becomes the sixth man in history to pull it off, and the first to do it since Tiger.

Who could be next?

With Rory officially in the club, we lost that storyline. Now all eyes have turned to who else has a real shot at being next. The most likely is probably Jordan Spieth.

Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth has won the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship. All that’s left for him is the PGA Championship. He came second in 2015 and had another top five in 2019. The good news is that Spieth has time – remember Mickelson won the PGA at 50 years old!

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson only needs the U.S. Open. He’s getting a bit older and didn’t do much at the Masters (missed the cut) so this one is probably a long shot. The worst part of this story for Mickelson is that he is a six-time runner up at the U.S. Open.

Players who need two more

Here are a few more top golfers who have won their first two major championships but are still seeking two more.

Brooks Koepka has the U.S. Open and PGA Championship but needs the Masters and The Open Championship. Jon Rahm has the U.S. Open and the Masters but needs the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. Collin Morikawa has the PGA Championship and the Open Championship but needs the Masters and U.S. Open. Xander Schauffele has the PGA Championship and the Open Championship but needs the Masters and U.S. Open.

Final thoughts

A Grand Slam in golf is incredibly rare so any time a player gets close, it seizes our attention. If you’re new to the game, take every chance you get to watch players chase this elusive milestone. It’s one of the most exciting storylines in any sport.

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