The Northern Irish world number two checked off the US Open 2011, his first major title.
The following year, McIlroy won the PGA Championship.
In 2014, The Open triumph came (and a new win in the PGA Championship).
That's when the hunt began in earnest.
But if Zlatan Ibrahimovic talked about "that damn Champions" – which he never won – then it's "that damn Masters" that still haunts Rory McIlroy. Year after year, he has gone to Augusta National with the goal of winning and joining the exclusive group that has won all four major tournaments.
Is it this year it finally happens?
"Lots of expectation"
It's clear that McIlroy has started the year brilliantly – with wins both at Pebble Beach and in The Players Championship at Sawgrass.
I understand the narrative and the buzz, and there's a lot of expectation being built up ahead of this tournament every year. But I just have to put my head down and focus on my job, says the 35-year-old ahead of the US Masters.
Already as a 21-year-old, without having won any major, he had a golden opportunity to grab a green jacket. McIlroy led the Masters 2011 with four strokes ahead of the final round, when he collapsed and finished 15th.
"Very proud of"
In recent years, McIlroy has gone on to several tough minor setbacks in major contexts, when he has fought for victory without reaching all the way. Most recently in the US Open last summer, when a pair of missed short putts at the end allowed Bryson DeChambeau to pass and win.
McIlroy jumped into the car without answering any questions – and took a shorter break after the defeat.
Throughout my career, I've shown a lot of resilience against setbacks, and it feels like I've done it again. Especially after June last year. The golf I've played since then, it's something I'm very proud of, he says.
On Thursday, Rory McIlroy begins the hunt for the Masters title in the same three-ball as Akshay Bhatia and Sweden's big hope, Ludvig Åberg.
Rory McIlroy has won four majors in his career, all between 2011 and 2014.
In the US Masters, it has been a second place at best, behind Scottie Scheffler in 2022.
The same year, he finished third in The Open – after sharing the lead ahead of the final round – and the last two years, he has finished second in the US Open.
