Jose Maria Olazabal responds when asked if he thinks Rory McIlroy is the greatest European golfer ever

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The green jacket celebrations for Rory McIlroy and his friends and family will likely still be ongoing after his win at The Masters.

McIlroy retained the prestigious prize after emerging victorious at Augusta National for the second year running, this time defeating Scottie Scheffler by one shot.

In 2025, Justin Rose was defeated in a playoff as the Northern Irishman completed the career grand slam in dramatic fashion, fittingly at such an iconic venue.

McIlroy is now a six-time major winner, with Jose Maria Olazabal having just been tasked with ranking him among the greatest European golfers of all time.

Jose Maria Olazabal predicts more success for Rory McIlroy

It was put to the Spaniard in his opening press conference at this week’s Senior PGA Championship: “You are obviously one of the greatest European players of all time… do you think Rory has surpassed everybody in that regard?”

He responded: “Well, I think Rory has still a long ways to go. I don’t think he’s going to finish here.”

And when asked if he thinks McIlroy is now number one, he said: “I think you do have a group of players there that, you know, during the season you will see moments where certain players will be like ahead of the rest, but that will change.

“I don’t see, you know, one single player dominating the game like some other players have done in the past.

“I say this because the difference between the players of that caliber is so small these days that, you know, at any given moment any little bounce here or there might change the outcome.

“Look at Scottie. He was 12 shots behind after two days, and he was in contention. He had a great chance of winning that tournament.

“If he makes that putt on 17, which looked in the hole for pretty much all the way, things would have been different.

“You know, I think you do have three, four, five players that really maybe are just ahead of the rest. It’s up to the timing, the season who is hot at that moment.

“As I said, I believe that it’s very difficult to dominate the game these days with players of that level and having such little difference between them.”

Photo by Kohjiro Kinno/Augusta National/Getty Images

The European golfing legends who impressed before Rory McIlroy

Olazabal certainly knows what it takes to win The Masters, having secured both of his career major titles at the iconic tournament.

He claimed the green jacket in 1994 and 1999, with his efforts there and on the European Tour and at the Ryder Cup ensuring his presence among the all-time greats.

But his fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros is undoubtedly ahead of him in the list of the best European players ever, along with Sir Nick Faldo.

McIlroy, however, has arguably clinched his spot at the very top of the pile thanks to another victory at The Masters.

It is certainly an intriguing debate, but the fact that the Northern Irishman is only 36 strongly suggests that he is nowhere near finished just yet and can continue to outshine his European counterparts.

But he’s definitely been able to draw inspiration from the many world-class European golfers who have come before him.

While not as successful as McIlroy, the likes of Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie also all deserve huge praise for their superb careers.

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