Rory McIlroy believes it would be "awesome" for golf if himself, Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson could all join the elite list of career Grand Slam winners this year.
The 29-year-old is already looking ahead to the Masters next month as he makes his fifth attempt to complete a full set of major titles, while Spieth and Mickelson can also complete a career Grand Slam with wins at the PGA Championship and US Open respectively.
McIlroy has had several close calls at Augusta National, including last year when he started the final round just three off the lead before he stumbled to a closing 74 to finish in a tie for fifth place - six shots adrift of Patrick Reed.
The four-time major champion insists he now feels more comfortable at the Masters having previously admitted he had struggled to get to grips with the "mental hurdle" he needed to clear to win an elusive Green Jacket, and he remains confident of landing his first major since 2014 while also lending his support to Spieth and Mickelson.
Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods have the full set of major titles, but McIlroy said: "How good would it be this year if Jordan won the PGA and Phil won the US Open and I won Augusta and three others are put into that group?
"I mean, how good would that be for golf? That would be awesome. But I think just because it is a small list it would be just that bit cooler to join. It's all about exposure and golf would be right in the centre of all sports stories if that were to happen, which is great for everyone involved in the game."
McIlroy, who was speaking at Bay Hill ahead of the defence of his Arnold Palmer Invitational title this week, also insisted he had come to terms with his previous disappointments at the first major of the year and believes he will be under less pressure at Augusta next month.
"It's definitely taken me time to come to terms with the things I've needed to deal with inside my own head, and I think sometimes I'm too much of a fan of the game because I know exactly who has won the Grand Slam and I know exactly the people I would be putting myself alongside," he added.
"It would be a massive achievement, but I can't think about it in that way. I just have to go out and play the golf course the way I know that I can play it and repeat that for four days. Hopefully that's good enough to have the lowest score that week.
"The extra stress that I put myself under that first couple of years, 2015 and 2016, I've become more comfortable with it. I guess I've become a lot more comfortable with the fact that I'm going to fail more times than I succeed.
"I've tried four times, and I've failed. But Abraham Lincoln lost the first 13 elections he was ever in, and he wound up being the President of the United States. So I've still got a bit of time."
In the meantime, McIlroy arrives in Orlando on the back of four consecutive top-five finishes and is relishing the challenge of successfully defending his crown.
"Now that I'm a past champion of this event, it obviously means a little bit more to me again," he said. "So it was great last year having not had a win worldwide for nearly 18 months, and to win in that fashion was obviously very pleasing.
"I'm playing well, but it just seems like one or two people play a little better than me every week I tee it up. But I'm in good shape and I'm in a good place with my game doing everything pretty well.
"I've just got to try and keep continuing on that path and if I keep working on these things and keep doing the right things, hopefully sooner or later I'll turn all these good finishes into a win."