"He's just too talented not to": Jack Nicklaus feels Rory McIlroy could win Masters 2024 and complete his Grand slam
Jack Nicklaus, like Tiger Woods, feels Rory McIlroy can complete the Grand Slam, but the man with 18 Majors and another 19 runner-up finishes in Majors, also added a rider.
Nicklaus then said,
“Was Tom Watson good enough to win the Grand Slam? Absolutely. Was Arnold Palmer good enough to win the Grand Slam? Absolutely. Is Rory McIlroy good enough to win the Grand Slam? Absolutely. But they have got to do it, and they all know that.
Do I think Rory will win here? Yeah. He could win this year. He could win next year. He's just too talented not to. But then again, they (Watson and Palmer) were too talented not to win those, too. You just never know.”
Two days ago, Woods said he is sure, but said something like, “… it is only a matter of time”.
The older he gets, the tougher it becomes, says Nicklaus about Rory McIlroy's Grand Slam chances
Nicklaus also said, “The answer to that, I think, is yes.” But was not sure when he could close the deal and become the sixth player to join the exclusive group of Grand Slam winners in golf.
Nicklaus further added,
“As he gets older, it gets tougher because all of a sudden it's a conversation, the talk.”
Tom Watson needed only the PGA and Nicklaus recalled that he almost had it in the bag in 1978 at Oakmont. Watson quietly added, “I had a five-shot lead.” By then Watson had already won the Masters and the Open, and he would later add the US Open in 1982. But Watson lost the 1978 PGA in a 3-way play-off to John Mahaffey. He would never win the PGA in his career.
Nicklaus also recalled that even Arnold (Palmer) had the PGA (left to complete the Slam). By 1962 Palmer had won the other three Majors, but in 1964, 1968, and 1970 he finished second in the PGA and would never win it.
Nicklaus was 26 when he did it, Woods was younger at 24, and Gary Player was 29. McIlroy is already 34, but he had three of the four needed for the Slam 10 years ago when he was 25
Last year, Nicklaus while on Sir Nick Faldo's Round Table Chats podcast seemed to say that McIlroy's relaxed approach might have been costly in the past. He said that Rory needs to “embrace the pressure of a major to triumph at The Masters.”
In 2024, McIlroy has one win, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, and his best on the PGA TOUR was T-3 last week at the Valero Texas Open.