World No.3 Xander Schauffele claims Rory McIlroy completing career grand slam is ‘scary’ for other golfers

Rory McIlroy became the 6th golfer to complete the career grand slam by overcoming Justin Rose in the playoff round of the Masters Tournament.

World No.3 Xander Schauffele claims Rory McIlroy completing career grand slam is ‘scary’ for other golfers

Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy (Image via Imago/X/@TheMasters)

On April 13, Rory McIlroy etched a historic chapter in his career. The Northern Irish golfer completed the career grand slam by finally winning the Masters Tournament. While, his achievement is a huge one in golf, it is also something that is ‘scary’ for other golfers according to Xander Schauffele.

Schauffele, the World No.3, finished T8 for the event after shooting a score of 1-under par in the final round. His early finish gave him the chance to witness history as World No.2, Rory McIlroy, tried to chase down history.

McIlroy eventually emerged as the winner through a playoff round against Justin Rose. His first win at the Masters Tournament saw him become just the 6th golfer to win all four major championships in golf.

Xander Schauffele, who won 2 majors last year, took part in a remote press conference of the 153rd Open Championship. The reigning Open Champion expressed that is scary for golfers now as McIlroy can now play without any pressure on his shoulders.

It’s incredible for the game of golf… What he did is obviously an incredible achievement. Again, scary for guys like us. If that was something that was holding him back and now he feels free, that could be a pretty scary thing.

Xander Schauffele said in the press conference as per ASAP Sports

The American golfer also believes that McIlroy can easily add more majors now following his win at the Masters Tournament and the completion of the career grand slam a few days ago.

McIlroy and Schauffele will both participate in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow next month. While McIlroy has a good history at this course, Schauffele will enter the field as the defending champion. Last year, he finished 1 shot ahead of Bryson DeChambeau to clinch his first major championship win.

Rory McIlroy has some ‘unfinished business’ despite completing career grand slam as per R&A CEO

Rory McIlroy started the Masters Tournament as the favorite to win the whole thing. Despite a poor end to the first round, he was able to bounce back and make history on the Sunday of the Augusta National. However, the R&A CEO believes there is still some ‘unfinished business‘ for McIlroy.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Image via Imago)

By winning the Masters, McIlroy became the 6th golfer in history to win all 4 major events. He joined the ranks of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods to achieve this huge milestone.

However, as per R&A CEO Mark Darbon, there is still something McIlroy has not done. While speaking at the media conference of the 153rd Open Championship, Darbon claimed that McIlroy has some unfinished business at the Royal Portrush, home of the event this year.

I’ve written him this past week to congratulate him. It’s been a real privilege as part of this role getting to meet some of the elite players in this game. I spent a little bit of time with Rory over the last few months. We know he’s super excited to return here. He has some unfinished business on this course. He’ll be very focused on performance, and we look forward to welcoming him.

Mark Darbon said on the media day of the Open Championship

The Royal Portrush is located in Northern Ireland, home of Rory McIlroy. 6 years ago in 2019, he was one of the favorites to win the event due to home course advantage. However, he fired an opening round score of 8-over par. Despite a second-round showing of 6-under, he missed the cut by one shot.

His close friend Shane Lowry went on to win the competition later on. With the form he is in, many are once again expecting him to lift the Claret Jug in front of his home fans in July this year.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry set to defend Zurich Classic of New Orleans title this week

Before the golfers start preparing for the second major championship, some of them will take part in the only official team event of the PGA Tour, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. 5-time major champion Rory McIlroy will enter this event alongside Shane Lowry as the defending champions.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry (Image via Imago)

While McIlroy had previously played on a team along with Lowry during the Ryder Cup, he had not played in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans before. He thus made his first official start in this event last year.

The All-Irish duo of McIlroy and Lowry took home the title by overcoming the team of Chad Martin and Martin Trainer in the playoff round. As a result of this, they will enter the field this week as defending champions.

The team of McIlroy and Lowry is one of the 79 teams that will participate in this event. For the first two rounds, the reigning champions will tee off alongside the team of Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge.