Is Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland's greatest sporting export?

Even before slipping into that long-sought green jacket at Augusta National on Sunday, Rory McIlroy had a case to be considered Northern Ireland's greatest ever individual sportsperson.

His previous four major championships, not to mention a host of other titles and Ryder Cup successes, amounted to quite the CV for a golfer who across his career has spent more than two years ranked as world number one.

In completing the career grand slam, however, McIlroy has been elevated to rarefied air, joining an exclusive club whose only other members are legends Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Can any others from Northern Ireland rival the 35-year-old Holywood star's latest and greatest achievement? BBC Sport NI looks at the contenders.

Enjoying his professional peak in a very different era to McIlroy, footballer George Best was as much a cultural icon as a sporting star.

Achieving a level of fame that saw the 'Belfast Boy' become the 'Fifth Beatle', Best was one of football's first superstars, soon talked about as much off the pitch as he was celebrated on it.

After overcoming a bout of homesickness, he made his Manchester United debut aged 17-years-old in 1963 and, along with Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, was key to Sir Matt Busby's rebuild of the side in the wake of the Munich air disaster in 1958.

The Red Devils would bring the European Cup back to Old Trafford in 1968 with Best scoring the key goal during extra-time of the 4-1 victory over Benfica in the Wembley final.

His exploits that season, when he was also crowned the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year, would see him win the Ballon d'Or at only 22-years-old. Beset by off the field problems in the years that followed, it represented the peak of Best's career.

Reaching World Cups in 1958, 1982 and 1986, Northern Ireland have produced some great football teams, and some outstanding individuals too, but for a brief time in the late 1960s, the best there was called Belfast home.

While McIlroy has won virtually all there is to win in the game of golf, one thing he has not yet managed to get his hands on is an Olympic medal.

A competitor at the Games in Tokyo and Paris, the closest he came was reaching a bronze medal play-off over in Japan.

Northern Ireland has had its fair share of golden moments, however.

The most famous of them all was Lady Mary Peters who won pentathlon gold at the Munich Games of 1972.

Stephen Martin and Jimmy Kirkwood were a part of the Team GB hockey squad who won gold at Seoul '88 but for 52 years Peters was the only individual who calls Northern Ireland home to stand on the top of an Olympic podium.

Then, across two incredible weeks in Paris last summer, four more golds followed, two in individual events and two as part of teams.

Swimmers Daniel Wiffen and Jack McMillan, in the 800m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay respectively, enjoyed success in the pool with rower Hannah Scott and gymnast Rhys McClenaghan matching their feats.

Paralympians Michael McKillop (middle-distance runner), Bethany Firth (swimmer), Kelly Gallagher (para-alpine skier), Jason Smyth (sprinter), and James Brown (cyclist) have all collected their chosen discipline's greatest prize too, in some instances multiple times.

Could McIlroy add his name to the list at Los Angeles 2028?

If McIlroy seemed destined for greatness in golf from childhood, Willie John McBride is an unlikely rugby legend.

More focused on the family farm as a youth, the towering second row came to the sport only in his final years of school.

By the age of 21, he'd become an Ireland international as he won the first of his 63 caps against England in the Five Nations of 1962.

He would be selected for the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa that summer, going on to become indelibly linked to the famous red jersey.

In total he would tour five times with the invitational side, playing in a record 17 Tests.

Thanks to his role as captain for the undefeated tour of South Africa in 1974, McBride has went down in rugby lore.

Along with Jack Kyle, Syd Millar and Mike Gibson, he is one of four former Ulster players in the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

Like Best and McIlroy, snooker star Alex Higgins displayed a precocious blend of flair and youthful exuberance as he burst onto the scene.

The man nicknamed 'Hurricane' was just 22-years-old when he became his sport's youngest world champion in 1972, defeating John Spencer in the final.

That record, which stood until 1990, is all the more impressive when you consider the Belfast man had reached the tournament only through the qualifiers, a feat which has been repeated only twice since.

Like McIlroy's 11-year wait for his fifth major, Higgins required patience and perseverance to arrive at his career peak.

He was runner-up at the World Championships of 1976 and 1980 but recaptured the title 10 years after his breakthrough victory with final victory over Ray Reardon at the Crucible.

The sight of 'The People's Champion' tearfully celebrating with his baby daughter Lauren in his arms are among the most enduring images from the golden era of snooker.

Northern Ireland has a rich history in motorsport with Joey Dunlop arguably the most famous name among those who have excelled on either two or four wheels.

The Ballymoney rider won the TT Formula One world title five consecutive times from 1981 to 1986, to go along with 24 Ulster Grand Prix victories and 13 wins at the North West 200.

Dunlop, though, is synonymous with the Isle of Man TT where the last of his 26 wins came in 2000, the same year he died in a racing incident in Estonia.

That tally remained the benchmark until eclipsed by his nephew Michael Dunlop last year.

While McIlroy's 11-year gap between majors highlights his longevity at the peak of the game, perhaps no sportsperson from Northern Ireland can rival Sir AP McCoy for time spent at the top.

The man from Moneyglass in County Antrim was named champion jockey a record 20 times in a row, one for each of the years he spent as a professional.

For context, prior to McCoy's two decades of dominance the previous benchmark was the eight titles of Peter Scudamore, seven of which had been won consecutively.

Known for a consistency that ensured his name is writ large across the record books - most notably when it comes to his 4,358 career winners - McCoy provided some unforgettable moments too.

Chief among them was his long-awaited victory in the Grand National of 2010 on Don't Push It, a win that later saw him become the first jockey to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Perhaps Northern Ireland's most consistent impact on the global sporting landscape has come in the world of boxing.

From world champions like Dave 'Boy' McAuley through to Olympians such as Wayne McCullough and Paddy Barnes, the province has often punched above its weight.

Only Carl Frampton, however, won world titles in a pair of weight classes.

The Belfast pugilist was 18-0 when he took on Kiko Martinez for the second time, on this occasion with the IBF super-bantamweight belt on the line.

Then 27-years-old, Frampton won his first world title via a unanimous decision in front of 16,000 fans at a purpose-built outdoor venue in his home city.

That the fight in the city's Titanic Quarter was not his career peak speaks volumes.

Frampton's legacy was cemented two years later when, only months after a high-profile super-bantamweight unification bout with Scott Quigg, Frampton moved up to featherweight and became a two-division world champion with victory over Leo Santa Cruz in Brooklyn.

After the victory, he was named Ring Magazine's fighter of the year.

He would lose a Las Vegas rematch against Santa Cruz six months later before an attempt to become a three-weight world champion in 2021 was thwarted by Jamel Herring in what proved to be the final fight of Frampton's storied career.