The 50 Greatest European Male Golfers

3. Rory McIlroy

N. Ireland | May 4, 1989 | TP 2007

From chipping balls into his parents’ washing machine as a little boy to one of the biggest names in the game, McIlroy has more than lived up to the lofty expectations heaped upon him when he turned pro in 2008. A winner of four major championships, he is a Green Jacket away from becoming just the sixth golfer in history to win the modern Grand Slam. He’s also one of only four players to have spent more than 100 weeks at world No.1 – no European has been top for longer than him – and is one of the highest-earners in the sport’s history. In 2011 at the age of 22, he became the youngest player ever to reach €10m in career earnings on the European Tour. In 2012, he repeated that trick on the PGA Tour. He’s won the FedEx Cup twice, the Race to Dubai three times, played on six Ryder Cup teams, won 29 times around the world… and he’s still only 32. Make no mistake, he’s firmly on track to become the greatest European golfer of all time.