More from Gary Player on BBC Radio 5 Live: "Let's not forget about Justin Rose. In my humble opinion, he might be the greatest gentleman I have ever met in golf. He was absolutely victorious in defeat.

"I would have known exactly how he felt because I came second three times. It never, ever leaves you. But I must praise him to the hilt for that.

"There is some logic in that this might 'free' him up. Golf is a game full of intricacies that nobody can ever really explain, you never quite know what is going to happen. I was sitting there watching with my family saying that Rory's going to win by five shots - on the contrary, it is a humbling game.

"But nobody has got his talent. You don't have to look to the future, look at what he's done now. The Grand Slam, the five majors. We will hear a lot more from him."

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Three-time Masters winner Gary Player has since been speaking with BBC Radio 5 Live about Rory McIlroy's achievement: "It was so exciting, it was up and down, and for Rory to join us as a Masters champion and a Grand Slam winner is absolutely remarkable. I don't think there's ever been any doubt, 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. The first was when he was on number seven and he was in the trees, there was one little gap and he took a massive swing on to a tiny green and it ended up four feet from the hole.

"And then at the end, after it looked like he was blowing it at 13 and 14, he hit a high, high hook which ended up about six feet from the hole [on the 15th]. And to finish on 18, after making a mess the first time around, he knocked it stone cold.

"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."

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Another career Grand Slam member, Gary Player, penned this heartfelt message on X: "I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Rory McIlroy on his historic win at the Masters and completion of the career Grand Slam.

"The drama of today capped off with his play-off victory was simply meant to be. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my admiration for Justin Rose, who embodies the true spirit of a gentleman in our game.

"This is one of the rarest and most difficult achievements in all of sport, something only now six golfers in history have ever accomplished. We are proud to add Rory to our exclusive club and no doubt he has set the standard for his era.

"To win all four major championships takes unwavering perseverance and the courage to overcome adversity time and time again in the face of immeasurable pressure few have ever experienced. Rory showed true grit today and also through the entire tournament.

"It was 11 years ago when Rory first started the final leg of his career Grand Slam journey. And throughout this time, he’s carried himself with class, led with principle, and played with passion.

"For him to finally don the Green Jacket in golf is a moment to be celebrated by fans around the world. Rory has made his mark on history, and all of us who love this game are incredibly proud.

"Well done, my friend. Welcome to our club."

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Rory McIlroy now joins and exclusive list of six players to win the career Grand Slam.

One of the illustrious members of that club, Jack Nicklaus, 85, who won 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."

The plaudits for Rory McIlroy have been flooding in ever since from his contemporaries.

His good friend and fellow countryman Darren Clarke spoke to the BBC about McIlroy's achievement in winning the career Grand Slam:

"I am absolutely delighted for Rors and [caddie] 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."

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It's fair to say that all those near misses, and a great deal of soul searching in between, will have been running through Rory McIlroy's mind after he missed a par putt on the 18th in regulation with the title almost - finally - in his grasp...

...but on the first play-off hole against England's Justin Rose, this happened...

• 2023 US Open

A similar story came a year later in Los Angeles when McIlroy started the final round a shot behind eventual champion Wyndham Clark and ended the round in the same position.

McIlroy made one bogey and one birdie and, as at St Andrews, was criticised for not being more aggressive as Clark and that elusive fifth major stayed just out of his grasp.

• 2024 US Open

Many forget McIlroy started the final round of last year's US Open three shots behind Bryson DeChambeau, but after he stormed into the lead he admitted to losing focus and watching what his opponent was doing around Pinehurst No.2.

Three bogeys in his last four holes followed, with missed putts from two feet on the 16th and four feet at the last seeing McIlroy trudge off knowing he had blown another chance, his best chance yet, to add a fifth major.

Being such a champion, though, he would not have to wait long to put it all right.

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• 2011 Masters

Augusta National is where it all began for a then precocious 21-year-old who swaggered into a four-shot lead before the final round of the Masters, with the Green Jacket already getting measured up.

Then disaster struck with tee shots hooking into trees and short putts being missed as McIlroy went round in 80, including a second nine of 43, to see a maiden major title slip through his fingers in agonising fashion.

• 2018 Masters

McIlroy was in the final pairing at Augusta again in 2018, and although three shots behind Patrick Reed, plenty fancied McIlroy to put the record straight at the Masters and complete his Grand Slam in his first big chance.

The big disappointment though was that he never really laid a glove on the leader, missing a four-footer to tie on the second before fading away to a two-over round of 74 to finish sixth.

• 2022 Open

Despite plenty of top 10s and a brief Sunday lead at the 2018 Open, the next big chance came at St Andrews in the 150th staging of golf's oldest major. He went into Sunday at the Old Course tied with Viktor Hovland at the top of the leaderboard.

This was a tough one to take. McIlroy had a three-shot lead at the start of the back nine but Cameron Smith birdied five holes in a row to shoot 64 and claim the Claret Jug with a fine comeback.

McIlroy did not drop a shot but made just two birdies in his round of 70, in the end paying the price for perhaps not putting his foot on the gas more when Smith came with his late run.

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To understand what happened next - and the outpouring of emotion after Rory McIlroy's play-off victory over Justin Rose clinched his first Green Jacket - you have to track back through the world number two's 11-year hiatus between major triumphs...

We have been trying to build a picture - for those who missed it - of Rory McIlroy's dramatic final round of this year's Masters.

We left Sunday's action with Rory taking back the overall lead with a birdie on the 15th.

The pressure told for last year's runner-up - Sweden's Ludvig Aberg - after finding himself in a three-way tie for the lead on 10 under, before McIlroy's birdie at 15, he dropped a shot on the 17th and then three at the last to finish down in seventh.

But McIlroy missed a birdie putt on the par-three 16th that would have put him two clear of Rose, and the Englishman seized his chance to pull level again on 11 under with a birdie up ahead at the last.

Undaunted, McIlroy responded again with another huge approach shot to the 17th that laid the platform for another birdie to move back ahead on 12 under.

All he had to do was par the last and the title was his...

Pria Rai
BBC Newsbeat

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Like many, YouTuber and golf pro Rick Shiels and his wife “stayed up super late” watching McIlroy’s dramatic win.

Rick, who has over 3 million followers across YouTube and TikTok, says he hopes McIlroy’s win can inspire the next generation of budding golfers to pick up a club.

“We want more young people playing this wonderful sport,” he tells BBC Newsbeat

He feels with things like the dress code, it is more relaxed now than it has been.

“Golf still has its barriers. It’s not perfect but it’s much friendlier now than it ever was.”

And for young golfers watching, Rick wants the “never give up” attitude to be a part of their game.

“He has never given up, worked really hard and put up with so many tough questions over 11 years.

“Now he’s been able to get the monkey off his back and replace it with a Green Jacket,” he says.

Just joining us? Perhaps it was a late night?

This morning we're reacting to Rory McIlroy's remarkable Masters win which sealed the career Grand Slam. Here is what you might have missed:

• Why was McIlroy's Grand Slam journey so special?
• How many golfers have won the career Grand Slam?
• 'Proud of you' - Woods
• How the final day unfolded
• The stats behind McIlroy's victory
• '14 years in the making' - McIlroy

What Sunday did prove is that while Rory McIlroy has shown fragility in key moments of previous tournaments, he was able to summon up the match-winning shots he needed when they mattered most.

His difficult run of dropped shots from holes 11 to 14 looked set to continue on the 15th as he tugged his drive down the par-five and left himself with more of Augusta's pines between him and the flag.

But when it looked impossible to reach the green in two, he smashed a high hooking effort around the trees and his ball settled six feet from the hole.

His eagle attempt drifted just wide, but he still moved into the solo lead with a tap-in birdie.

The set-up was so good he even fist-pumped the air as he walked on to the green. He knew that was a big, big moment.

Catherine Moore, BBC News NI, reporting from Holywood:

On the streets of Rory McIlroy’s hometown of Holywood, County Down, people are waking up after a late, and very nervy, night.

John Reynolds said he watched every minute of Sunday’s “tortuous” final day at Augusta.

“It was thrilling but it was nail-biting and, in the end, it was such a relief he made it over the line.”

John, who is in a WhatsApp group of golfers, said they were worried he would be once again “so close but not getting over the line” – but now he has reached “golfing immortality”.

David Addis was travelling on Sunday night. While the action was dramatically swinging back and forth, he faced an hour where his radio listening was interrupted by having to catch a flight.

“When I got on the plane he was in a strong position, he was four up, and 55 minutes later he had gone into water as I understand it so he was in trouble again.”

David said he was “elated” with the result and people are “buzzing” in Holywood.

Seamus O’Connor, a former captain at Holywood Golf Club, said the career Grand Slam was “a long time coming but we expected it to come”.

“He’s the best golfer in the world, I reckon, so it was just a matter of when, not if.”

Image source, BBC News NI

Justin Rose may be a good friend of Rory McIlroy, but he ended up being his biggest tormentor on a day of high emotion that, in many ways, was of Rory's own making.

There was a nervous excitement about the world number two as he approached the 10th hole.

It's a hole that loomed large in his back story - a triple-bogey on the 10th in 2011 pulled the rug from under the then 21-year-old's title charge.

But a birdie on the 10th on Sunday saw McIlroy move to 14 under for the tournament and seemingly on his way to a comfortable win.

That's how these things happen at other golf tournaments, but not at Augusta.

In what felt like the blink of any eye, McIlroy found himself in a three-way tie for the lead with Rose and Ludvig Aberg after two bogeys and a double bogey in the space of four holes between 11 and 14.

That included an inexplicable seven on the par-five 13th after his approach shot from inside 90 yards came up short and trickled back into the water.

Image source, Getty Images

Justin Rose told media what he said to long-time friend Rory McIlroy on the 18th green, after his title-winning putt to beat the English veteran in 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, 44.

"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."

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