McIlroy banishes ghosts of majors past and steps into a league of his own

While Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros are icons of the sport, the Northern Irishman is now in a unique position

- Ewan Murray

n Northern Ireland, debate is already raging as to whether Rory McIlroy has presented himself as the country's greatest ever sportsperson. The answer is surely obvious. Step aside, George Best. McIlroy's Masters triumph may even force Sports Personality of the Year to afford due recognition to golf.

It is only April but it feels highly unlikely the scene immediately after McIlroy claimed the Masters on Sunday will be matched. His pounding of the turf; his tears absorbed more than a decade of such deep frustration. The moment reverberated beyond sport; Rory had done it. Grown men, lots of them, shed tears on his behalf as he broke his Augusta hoodoo.

Nick Faldo six, Rory McIlroy five. Were this a football match, Faldo would be the winner. Yet in golf there is nuance. McIlroy might trail Faldo's overall majors haul - for now - but the completion of the career grand slam pressed home new status for McIlroy. No European had secured the set before. He is the finest golfer this continent has produced.

Faldo was the grinder who got the job done. There were, of course, stunning moments. The Englishman's takedown of Greg Norman in the 1996 Masters represented true sporting theatre.