It’s hard to look at a four-time world champion golfer in 2024 and question his comeback for 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 won a sixth Race to Dubai title this season, bringing him level with Seve Ballesteros all-time, with McIlroy also winning twice on the PGA Tour this year.
There have been nine other world top-10s during a solid year, with the shock near-miss at the US Open one of four runners-up, while McIlroy’s life – on and off the court – has come under scrutiny over the course of a season. where he admitted that he “has been through a lot”.
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
Highlights from a thrilling US Open final round at Pinehurst No 2 where Bryson DeChambeau outlasted Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy’s season-after-season consistency has kept him firmly in the world’s top 10 for the majority of the past 15 years, yet it’s often reminders of the disappointments – rather than the successes – thrown his way by golf fans and the media . .
Speech exclusively on Sky Sports ahead of ‘Rory McIlroy: Expectation’, a new documentary available from December 8, the Northern Irishman said: “I’m hard on myself but at the same time I try really hard to focus on the positives and move forward. Learn from mistakes me and then move on, because that’s all you can do in any walk of life.
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
Highlights from the final round of the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
“I think the difficult thing in my position is that your frustrations and your mistakes are always played out in front of you every time you go in front of a camera or you’re in a press conference or you answer questions. That’s the hard part of this gig.
“At the same time, I’m in a very fortunate position that this is what I get to do for a living. the.
“I feel like it’s a very privileged position to be in. I’d rather have it that way than if people didn’t really care about what I did on the golf course.”
McIlroy says ‘the ones I let go’
Rory McIlroy won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championship on the DP World Tour, partnering with Shane Lowry for the team’s PGA Tour victory at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans before securing the Wells Fargo Championship in his next start .
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
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’ Order of Merit.
There have also been runners-up at the Dubai Invitational, the Amgen Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship during 2024, although the one who lived longest in the memory is letting a US Open win and a first major title in a decade elude him.
McIlroy held a two-shot lead heading into the closing holes at Pinehurst No 2, only to bogey three of the final hour – including two missed shots from within four feet – to see Bryson DeChambeau claim a one shot win.
“It’s hard 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 what I let get away with.” McIlroy admitted.
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
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’s the balls in particular. I wouldn’t say it’s the club’s choices in particular – I think it’s a combination.
“The putt on 16 was probably the one I’ll look back on and regret the most. But I think if I had made par on 15, would I have missed that putt on 16? Also, with the last few holes and the way where Pinehurst is rolling, I expected Bryson to hit his shots.
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
A look back at the big misses that cost Rory McIlroy his first major in 10 years on a dramatic final day of the US Open.
“You’re very aware of what’s going on behind you and I had to do a better job of trying to block it out and I didn’t. It’s hard enough just having to focus on yourself and focus on what you’re doing.
“Whenever you’re distracted by focusing and looking at what your competitor is doing, it makes it even more difficult.”
Could 2025 be McIlroy’s year for a major?
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 will 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, and is a four-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club – the site of the 2025 PGA Championship.
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
Relive how Rory McIlroy sealed his victory at the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship, his maiden PGA Tour title.
The Northern Irishman will head to Oakmont having finished no worse than ninth in each of his last six US Open appearances, before returning to Royal Portrush for The Open to play a course where he missed the cut in 2019 but previously held the record route 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. “It’s when I know the golf course best and I kind of know it’s going to play, you know, the features.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Portrush because I feel like I have some unfinished business there from last time, and obviously we’ll be back in Augusta for The Masters.
Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
Footage from the opening round of The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, where Rory McIlroy birdied his hole for four.
“I think the one thing that probably won’t get enough credit, because I haven’t won the US Open, is that I feel like I’ve become such a better player in the US Open venues.
“So in 2016, when we last played at Oakmont, where the US Open is, I missed the cut. I missed the cut in 2017 at the US Open and I missed the cut in 2018 at the US Open, but since then I’ve made a real effort to try to change what I did and how I approached playing this championship.
“From 2019 until this year in 2024, I feel like I’ve had a chance to win the US Open every Sunday I’ve played there since then, so I’m really proud of that. I’m looking forward to going back to a golf course I’ve played on in the past to see if I can figure it out.”
Watch ‘Rory McIlroy: Expectation’, a special new documentary reflecting on the 2024 season, from 8 December on Sky Sports. McIlroy will return to action in January, with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf.
