Rory McIlroy: A Career Grand Slam?

This year's 82nd Masters Tournament promises some really mouth-watering golf, and also some potentially awesome stories.

From Tiger Woods' first appearance at Augusta since 2015, through Sergio's title defence and, of course, (most interestingly for us) a possible Career Grand Slam.

With Rory McIlroy a mere Green Jacket away from securing his place in golfing history, let's recap on his previous major successes before considering his chances next month in Georgia.

2011 U.S. Open - Congressional

Rory wowed the golfing world by producing a thoroughly dominant display during the 2011 U.S. Open Championship.

He would eventually prevail by 8 clear strokes over his nearest challenger - the Aussie Jason Day - breaking 11 US Open records along the way including the lowest 72 hole score to par.

For a golfer aiming to announce his arrival on the world stage, Rory couldn't have wished for a more thoroughly complete performance.

You can watch the highlights of Rory's 2011 win below:

2012 PGA Championship - Kiawah Island

Rory didn't take long (in golfing terms at least) to follow up on his maiden major win. In the very next major season he captured the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in South Carolina.

It was a deserved victory and once again Rory had written himself into major championship history by recording another 8 shot success.

By then the whole golfing world was abuzz with questions surrounding McIlroy's potential for following in the footsteps of the great Tiger Woods.

Watch Rory's historic final round highlights below:

2014 Open Championship - Royal Liverpool

Rory's sole Open Championship win to date came at Royal Liverpool in 2014 where he finished two shots clear of both Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia. He also became only the sixth man in the event's history to go 'wire-to-wire'.

Surprisingly, with his win in the North West of England he also jumped ahead of all fellow Europeans to become the first to win three different majors, while he joined both Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in achieving the feat of three major championships before the age of 25.

2014 PGA Championship - Valhalla Golf Club

The most recent of Rory's four majors came at Valhalla Golf Club where he held the lead at the end of the second round and managed to finish with a one-shot advantage over Phil Mickelson on Sunday evening.

Few would have expected at this stage that three full major seasons would elapse without Rory adding to his personal tally.

Catch the highlights of the Valhalla victory below:

Chances of a Career Grand Slam?

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational Rory shot an exceptional final round 64 to capture a first win in 18 months. Up to last week's tournament though, his 2018 form had been inconsistent at best.

Coming off the back of an injury-ravaged 2017 where he would fail to secure a single Tour win, Rory had been reassuring the golfing public that he was hitting the ball quite well while not getting the results he deserved. He felt that good results were coming again - and he was right.

With that said, one win will not completely detract from the previous rustiness, but we think you write the former world number one off at your peril.

Catch Rory's best shots from the 2017 Masters

There are three men who each have a possibility of securing their own personal career grand slam in 2018. Rory is joined in this regard by Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson who are a PGA Championship and a U.S. Open (respectively) away from their own place in history.

Rory has his chance first. Will he take it? He's proven to us all that he has that winning mentality once again but, as the old saying goes - one swallow does not a summer make.

If he can put in a good week's work in Texas at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play and arrive at Augusta somewhere near his best form it will certainly help. When you throw into the mix that the four-time major winner has finished inside the top-10 in each of his last four Masters it would start to suggest something special could be afoot.

We will keep everything crossed.

How do you rate Rory's chances at Augusta National? Who will capture a career Grand Slam first? Let us know below.

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