It’s hard to look at a four-time world champion golfer in 2024 and question their return to the season, but that’s the reality Rory McIlroy often faces after another not-so-great campaign.
This is a player who has won twice on the DP World Tour and earned his sixth Dubai title this season, tying him with Seve Ballesteros’ all-time mark, while McIlroy has also won twice on the PGA Tour this year. :
There have been nine other top-10s in the world over the course of the year, including four runner-up finishes at the US Open, while McIlroy’s life on and off the course has come under scrutiny in a season where he admitted that “. has been through a lot.”
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Highlights from a thrilling US Open final at Pinehurst No. 2 where Bryson DeChambeau defeated Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy’s season-after-season consistency has made him a solid top 10 in the world for most of the last 15 years, but it’s often a reminder of the disappointments rather than the successes directed at golf fans and the media.
Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports Available from December 8, “Rory McIlroy. Before the new documentary “Expectation”, the Northern Irishman said: from my mistakes and then move on because that’s all you can do in any walk of life.
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Highlights from the final round of the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
“I think the hardest part in my position is your frustrations and your mistakes keep coming up every time you go on camera or go to a press conference. That’s the hard part of this gig.
“At the same time, I’m very fortunate that it’s what I get to live. If I have to deal with what people think are unfair expectations or higher standards than others, then so be it.” : it.
“I feel like it’s a very privileged position. I’d rather have it that way than if people didn’t really care what I was doing on the golf course.”
McIlroy cheats ‘those I let get away’
Rory McIlroy won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championship on the DP World Tour, while he partnered Shane Lowry to team victory at the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic in New Orleans before securing the Wells Fargo Championship in his next start. :
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Rory McIlroy was left in tears after winning the DP World Tour Championship title as well as the Race to Dubai where he matched Seve Ballesteros’ Medal of Merit.
There were also runners-up finishes at the Dubai Invitational, Amgen Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship during 2024, although the longest-serving player in living memory let a US Open win and first major title in a decade slip away.
McIlroy took a two-shot lead into the closing holes at Pinehurst No. 2, only for his three holes in the final hour, including two missed putts from four feet, to see Bryson DeChambeau cruise to a one-shot victory.
“It’s tough because on the one hand I’m sitting here and I’m proud of what I’ve done this year, but on the other hand I’m sitting here and I’m disappointed because of who I let get away with,” McIlroy admitted.
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Sky Sports’ Wayne Riley and Dame Laura Davies analyze Rory McIlroy’s late collapse at the US Open and assess his ability to bounce back.
“I would say it was a combination of everything. I wouldn’t say it was specifically the shots. I wouldn’t say it was the club selections in particular, I think it was a combination.
“The 16th ball was probably the one I’m going to regret the most. But I think if I was par on the 15th, could I miss the 16th, too, on the last couple of holes and how?” is Pinehurst flowing, I expected Bryson to hit his shots.
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A look back at the big misses that cost Rory McIlroy his first major in 10 years on the dramatic final day of the US Open.
“You’re very aware of what’s going on behind you, and I should have done a better job of trying to block it out, and I didn’t. It’s hard enough to just focus on yourself and focus on what you’re doing.
“When you’re distracted by focusing and looking at what your opponent is doing, it makes it even more difficult.”
Could 2025 be McIlroy’s year for the majors?
McIlroy’s major drought stretches to 11 years, which would be tied for the longest gap between major victories in men’s golf, although there are courses on the 2025 schedule that would encourage him to end his winless streak.
He has seven career top 10s at The Masters, including a runner-up finish at Augusta National in 2022, while a four-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club, the site of the 2025 PGA Championship.
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Relive how Rory McIlroy sealed his victory at the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship, his first PGA Tour title.
The Northern Irishman will travel to Oakmont having finished no higher than ninth in each of his last six US Open appearances before returning to Royal Portrush for The Open to play a course he missed in 2019 but previously held a record as a teenager.
“I love that we play the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in May, which is usually when we play Wells Fargo,” McIlroy said. “That’s when I know the golf course best and i kind of know it’s gonna play you know, specs?
“I can’t wait to get back to Portrush because I feel like I have some unfinished business there from last time and we’ll obviously be back at Augusta for the Masters.”
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Highlights from the opening round of The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, where Rory McIlroy made a square bogey on his opening hole.
“I think the one thing that probably doesn’t get enough credit because I haven’t won the US Open is that I feel like I’ve become such a better player on the US Open courts.
“So in 2016, the last time we played at Oakmont, where the US Open is, I missed the cut. In 2017, I missed the cut at the US Open and I missed the 2018 cut at the US Open. , but since then I’ve made a real effort to try to change what I did and how I approached that championship.
“From 2019 to this year, 2024, I feel like I’ve had a chance to win the U.S. Open every Sunday that I’ve played there. I’m looking forward to getting back on the golf course.” I used to struggle to see if I could figure it out.”
Watch Rory McIlroy. Expectation’ special new documentary reflecting on his 2024 season from December 8 on Sky Sports. McIlroy will return in January with exclusive live coverage of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour on Sky Sports Golf.
