'Welcome to the club' - Woods leads tributes to McIlroy

Tiger Woods was among the first to congratulate Rory McIlroy on winning the Masters, welcoming him to an exclusive club of men's players to have won golf's Grand Slam.

The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland has became only the sixth man and the first European to win the career Grand Slam of Masters, Open Championship, US Open and US PGA Championship titles.

Woods, a 15-time major winner, had been the last player to win the Grand Slam in 2000, joining Americans Jack Nicklaus (1966), Ben Hogan (1953), Gene Sarazen (1935) and South Africa's Gary Player (1965).

"Welcome to the club," five-time Masters winner 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 regrouped from missing a putt which would have secured victory on the 18th hole of his final round on Sunday to beat England's Justin Rose in a sudden-death play-off.

The long-awaited triumph at Augusta National came almost 11 years after he won the fourth major of his career at the 2014 US PGA.

Nicklaus, 85, the winner of a record 18 majors and six Masters titles, said on America's CBS: "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."

Player, at 89 the oldest living member of the now six-strong Grand Slam club, 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."

'I wondered if it would ever be my time'

"I started to wonder if it would ever be my time," said McIlroy, who shot a drama-packed one-over 73 on the final day to tie with Rose on 11 under.

"The past 10 years [I've been] coming with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve that.

"I am so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.

"It's been very difficult. And not just about winning my next major, but the career Grand Slam."

McIlroy's travails have been an annual talking point coming into the iconic tournament which takes place every April and is the first of the year's majors.

"What are we all going to talk about next year?" McIlroy, with a beaming smile on his face, asked the media after his victory.

"It's a dream come true. I have dreamt about that moment for as long as I can remember.

"Watching Tiger Woods in 1997, and then winning his first Green Jacket, I think that inspired so many of my generation to want to emulate what he did."

English veteran Rose, who was also aiming for his Masters victory, courageously fought back to force the play-off with a final-round 66.

He had some nice words for his long-time friend McIlroy, before revealing what he told the new Masters champion on the 18th green after the play-off.

"I just said, listen, this is a historic moment in golf, isn't it, someone who achieves the career Grand Slam," said Rose.

"I said it was pretty cool to be able to share that moment with him.

"Obviously I wanted to be the bad guy, but still, it's a momentous occasion for the game of golf."

McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mate Shane Lowry, who faded out of contention on Sunday with an 81, told BBC NI Sport: "It's huge for Irish golf. It's huge for everyone. I've had a really bad day but I'm delighted for him.

"He might not have wanted to say this but it's genuinely been everything for him over the past 10 years."

Lowry also commented on X, where Ireland's 2019 Open champion wrote: "He always said to me he'd retire a happy man if he won the Green Jacket."

England's Tommy Fleetwood said it was "a very Rory McIlroy way of doing it" and nobody could "have written a better script", adding: "I couldn't be happier for him. He's at the top of his game and he's achieved something incredible."

Northern Ireland's former Open champion and 2016 Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke told BBC Sport: "I am absolutely delighted for Rors and Harry (Diamond).

"I've know Rory since he was 10 years old coming through my foundation and even then he was destined for greatness.

"It felt like I was almost watching my own two boys yesterday my emotions were that up and down.

"Rory has now deservedly joined the highest echelon of our sport and maybe in the whole world of sport."

'He wouldn't talk to me'

McIlroy's playing partner Bryson DeChambeau said the two did not speak during their final round.

The American, who narrowly beat McIlroy to win last year's US Open, started the day two shots behind his partner.

He briefly led on Sunday after a birdie on the second coupled with McIlroy's double bogey on the first.

But DeChambeau, who plays in the PGA Tour's rival LIV Golf, fell back through the field and eventually finished in a tie for fifth after a 75.

Asked how McIlroy was feeling after signed his scorecard, he replied: "No idea. Didn't talk to me once all day."

Pressed further on whether he had tried to initiate conversation during the round, he added: "He wouldn't talk to me."

But DeChambeau did say he "wanted to cry" for McIlroy after he put an approach shot into a creek at the 13th.

‘Caddie Diamond deserves this as much as me’

McIlroy was quick to praise the role his caddie and friend Harry Diamond played in the victory, given the criticism he often faces.

Diamond, who became McIlroy’s caddie after JP Fitzgerald was let go in 2017, has been regularly condemned by fans and golf professionals for being too quiet at key times.

But McIlroy said: “I’ve known Harry since I was seven years old.

"I met him on the putting green at Holywood Golf Club. We've had so many good times together. He's been like a big brother to me the whole way through my life.

"To be able to share this with him after all the close calls that we've had, all the [nonsense] that he's had to take from people that don't know anything about the game, yeah, this one is just as much his as it is mine.

"He's a massive part of what I do, and I couldn't think of anyone better to share it with than him.”

McIlroy pointed out the crucial role Diamond played in steadying his nerves before the play-off.

"Harry and I were walking to the golf cart to bring us back to the 18th tee, and he said to me, 'Well pal, we would have taken this on Monday morning,'" said McIlroy.

"I'm like, 'Yeah, absolutely we would have.' That was an easy reset.

"I just kept telling myself, just make the same swing you made in regulation. I hit a great drive up there, and the rest is history."