Northern Ireland's 5 greatest athletes after Rory McIlroy's Masters win
35-year-old
Rory McIlroy
not only solidified his place in golfing lore last week by
winning the Masters
to capture the career grand slam, but also certainly his status as the best Northern Irish athlete of all time.
McIlroy was one of the most famous junior golfers in recent memory when he broke through as a teenager and had already captured three of the four major championships by the age of 25.
His
playoff victory over Justin Ros
e allowed McIlroy to take some much-needed time off, as he was
absent from last weekend's RBC Heritage Classic
in Hilton Head, South Carolina: his legacy is now cemented.
Who joins the former wunderkid as the greatest Northern Irish athlete of all time?
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2. George Best (Soccer/Football)
Best was capped only 37 times for the Northern Irish national team and never featured in the World Cup. On pure talent alone, however, he's one of the greatest footballers ever out of the United Kingdom.
Best scored 181 goals for
Manchester United
from 1963-1974, winning the Ballon d'Or in 1968 along the way. He helped the Red Devils win a pair of First Division titles and scored three times in United's journey to win its first European Cup in 1968.
3. Mary Peters (Pentathlon)
Born in Liverpool in 1939, Lady Mary Peters moved to
Belfast
at the age of 11. She represented
Northern Ireland
at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and captured the gold medal in the pentathlon.
George Best was one of Manchester United's greatest ever players
(Image: Getty Images)
At the time, Peters was working as a secretary. Suddenly, she was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and was awarded an MBE a year later.
4. Pat Jennings (Soccer/Football)
Jennings is a rare breed: a man known for his sporting success with both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
The Newry-native broke through with Watford before securing a move to Tottenham in 1964. The goalkeeper helped Spurs capture the UEFA Cup in 1972 before joining the Gunners in 1977.
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Jennings was a one-time FWA Footballer of the Year and one-time PFA Players' Player of the Year (separate years) as well as a member of the 1973 World XI. He earned 119 caps for Northern Ireland and represented his country at both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.
5. Daniel Wiffen (Swimming)
The youngest entrant on this list, the 23-year-old Wiffen is the most recent winner of the BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year honor.
What'd he achieve? Wiffen captured gold in the 800m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics (and a bronze in the 1500m). He adds these medals to his two goals from the 2024 World Championships in Doha.
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