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Woods welcomes Masters champion McIlroy to the career Grand Slam club

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2 daysGolf

Tiger Woods welcomed newly minted Masters champion Rory McIlroy to an elite club after the Northern Irishman's stunning victory at Augusta National.

McIlroy finally got his hands on the green jacket, and his fifth major title, as he triumphed over Justin Rose in a tense play-off on Sunday.

It marked the 35-year-old's first major triumph in 2014 and saw him complete the set when it comes to the biggest prizes in golf.

McIlroy became just the sixth player to win the career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, who was the last player to achieve the feat back in 2000.

Indeed, McIlroy is the first European player to win all four majors.

And five-time Masters champion Woods offered McIlroy his congratulations.

"Welcome to the club," Woods wrote on X.

"Completing the Grand Slam at Augusta is something special. Your determination during this round, and this entire journey has shown through, and now you're a part of history.

"Proud of you."

McIlroy now holds five major victories. Among the current active golfers, only Woods (15) and Phil Mickelson (six) boast more such titles.

The other surviving members of the elite club of career Grand Slam victors also hailed McIlroy's success.

"I'm so happy for him. It will take the world off his shoulders and you're now going to see a lot more of really good golf out of Rory McIlroy," said Nicklaus on CBS.

Player, meanwhile, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I've always said he is the most talented player in the world today. He has the best swing by a mile.

"He is a hard worker and he deserves everything he gets. There were two shots in there that I will never forget for as long as I live.

"I've never seen such enthusiasm by the crowd. They followed Rory and they wanted him to win. The country can be very proud of him. He is a wonderful, well-mannered man who is doing an awful lot of good for golf."

McIlroy is the sixth European player to win five majors.

Over the past century, only Nick Faldo (six) has more major victories than McIlroy among European golfers.

It took McIlroy 17 attempts to win the Masters, with his first appearance coming back in 2009. Only Sergio Garcia (19) had a longer wait before scooping his first title at Augusta.

And McIlroy's wait of 10 years and eight months between his 2014 PGA Championship win and his triumph on Sunday is the longest gap between major wins since Woods' span of 10 years and nine months between his 2008 U.S. Open and 2019 Masters victories.