It feels harsh to criticise a participant who has received thrice this 12 months and contented on a number of different events, however Rory McIlroy might look again on 2024 as issues stand as a marketing campaign that would – or ought to – have supplied a lot extra.
McIlroy has threatened main glory, was within the operating for FedExCup victory and continues to be the overwhelming favorite to win the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai for a sixth time, though he has come agonisingly near including his win tally throughout a season of near-misses on each side of the Atlantic.
The squandered likelihood to finish his decade-long main drought on the US Open is one in every of 4 runner-up finishes already in 2024, with McIlroy additionally ending second – in a wide range of methods – on the Dubai Invitational, Amgen Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship.
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Talking on the Sky Sports activities Golf Podcast, Rob Lee says he’s not involved about Rory McIlroy’s runner-up finishes this season
McIlroy has three extra alternatives left this 12 months to get again to successful methods, beginning on the Alfred Dunhill Hyperlinks Championship in Scotland this week earlier than rounding off a busy marketing campaign with back-to-back Play-Off occasions subsequent month within the Center East – the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship.
Forward of his newest DP World Tour look, dwell on Sky Sports activities from Thursday, we take a more in-depth look again at McIlroy’s eventful 2024 to date…
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Combined fortunes in Dubai and sluggish begin on PGA Tour
An early indication of the 12 months to come back was supplied on the season-opening Dubai Invitational, the place McIlroy let a slim lead slip on the ultimate gap and needed to accept tied-second as Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood snatched victory.
McIlroy had gone from three behind with eight holes to go to at least one forward, regardless of three-putting the 14th from inside three ft, just for him to bogey the par-five final – after discovering the water – to permit Fleetwood to say a one-shot win.
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Watch how Tommy Fleetwood took house the prize on the Dubai Invitational after Rory McIlroy bogeyed his last gap
“Sloppy mistakes” however a “really positive week” was McIlroy’s verdict from his first near-miss of the marketing campaign, earlier than he bounced in his subsequent begin to efficiently defend his Hero Dubai Desert Traditional title and declare a file fourth victory on the occasion.
McIlroy was 10 strokes off the midway lead earlier than charging into rivalry with a third-round 63 at Emirates Golf Membership, then impressed on the ultimate day to say a one-shot victory over Adrian Meronk to maneuver high of the DP World Tour rankings.
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The very best of the motion from the ultimate spherical of the Hero Dubai Desert Traditional, the place McIlroy claimed a fourth win on the occasion
Hopes of taking that kind over to the PGA Tour have been rapidly short-lived, with McIlroy ending no greater than nineteenth in his subsequent 5 begins earlier than recovering from a poor third spherical on the Valero Texas Open to finish in third spot.
That robust end in San Antonio raised the prospect of probably ending his watch for the profession Grand Slam at The Masters, just for McIlroy to depart Augusta Nationwide with him admitting there was “lots of room for improvement” after ending a irritating week in tied-Twenty second.
Optimistic steps and back-to-back victories
McIlroy didn’t construct on being inside 4 strokes of the midway lead in his subsequent begin, fading to a share of thirty third on the RBC Heritage as Scottie Scheffler claimed a fourth PGA Tour victory in 5 begins, however returned to the winner’s circle later that month alongside Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry.
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McIlroy and Shane Lowry celebrated their Zurich Traditional of New Orleans victory in model with a powerful rendition of ‘Do not Cease Believin!’
A “drunken lunch” after each that includes in Europe’s Ryder Cup victory the earlier autumn led to McIlroy making his debut within the Zurich Traditional of New Orleans, with the pair defeating Martin Coach and Chad Ramey in a play-off to win the PGA Tour’s workforce occasion.
McIlroy produced a back-nine masterclass to cruise to a five-shot victory in his subsequent begin on the Wells Fargo Championship, his fourth win at Quail Hole, with back-to-back successes making him the pre-tournament favorite to win the PGA Championship the next week.
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Highlights of the ultimate spherical of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hole, the place McIlroy registered a powerful victory
An elusive fifth main did not materialise at Valhalla, the venue when he received the 2014 PGA Championship, with McIlroy in tied-Twelfth as Xander Schauffele registered his first of two main victories in 2024.
McIlroy made a Sunday cost on the RBC Canadian Open a fortnight later however ended tied-fourth, three strokes behind Robert MacIntyre, then dropped out of rivalry once more on the Memorial Match after rounds of 73 and 76 over the weekend.
Main heartbreak continues at Pinehurst
4 consecutive top-15 PGA Tour finishes have been adopted by him grabbing a share of the early lead on the US Open, with McIlroy beforehand happening to win every of the earlier three majors the place he had made a bogey-free begin.
McIlroy insisted he nonetheless had a “great chance” when two late bogeys in his third spherical left him three strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau, with that confidence validated when he stood on the 14th tee on Sunday at Pinehurst No 2 with a two-shot benefit.
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Nick Faldo and Wayne Riley have been baffled by a few of the selections Rory McIlroy was making in direction of the top of his last spherical of the US Open, which he misplaced by one shot to Bryson DeChambeau
The Northern Irishman could not rise up and down from off the inexperienced to avoid wasting par on the par-three fifteenth after which missed from inside three ft on the subsequent, the primary putt in 497 makes an attempt he did not convert from that distance, with McIlroy then additionally bogeying the par-four final.
McIlroy then watched on in disbelief as DeChambeau snatched victory with a dramatic par, leaving him runner-up for a second successive 12 months and describing letting a significant win slip by means of his fingers as his ‘hardest day as knowledgeable golfer’.
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Highlights from an exciting last spherical of the US Open at Pinehurst No 2
He withdrew from the PGA Tour’s Vacationers Championship and stated he would ‘take a number of weeks away’, with McIlroy returning the subsequent month to say a share of fourth in his Genesis Scottish Open title defence.
Open struggles and underwhelming summer time
McIlroy’s ambitions of lifting the Claret Jug at The Open have been all however ended by an opening-round 78 at Royal Troon, the place the previous world No 1 already began excited about vacation plans after taking part in a four-hole stretch in six over early in his second spherical.
A missed lower at The Open means McIlroy’s main wait will at the very least enter an eleventh season, whereas he additionally fell brief when within the medal hunt – representing Staff Eire – a fortnight later – through the last spherical of the Paris Olympics.
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Rory McIlroy made an eight on the par-five fourth at Royal Troon through the second spherical of The Open as his hopes of creating the lower started to rapidly fade
McIlroy had jumped inside one of many lead after beginning his again 9 with 5 consecutive birdies at Le Golf Nationwide, solely to double-bogey the par-four fifteenth from the center of the green and end with three consecutive pars to finish two pictures exterior the medal locations.
The chance to win a record-breaking fourth FedExCup remained a goal for McIlroy heading into the season-ending Playoffs, the place a disappointing weekend on the FedEx St Jude Championship left him tied-68th of the 70 gamers within the area.
He was additionally unable to contend on the BMW Championship, leaving him six pictures again underneath the staggered-scoring system for the season-ending Tour Championship, the identical margin he overturned to win in 2022, the place Scheffler claimed FedExCup victory and McIlroy completed 14 strokes again in tied-ninth.
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The Sky Sports activities Golf workforce assessment Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa’s last rounds on the Tour Championship, the place each threatened FedExCup victory
Double disappointment on the DP World Tour
McIlroy admitted he was contemplating a diminished schedule in 2025 after hitting “a wall” through the run of six occasions in an eight-week stretch, though appeared destined for a landmark win on house soil in his subsequent begin after taking a one-shot lead into the ultimate spherical of the Amgen Irish Open.
The house favorite elevated his result in 4 strokes however got here underneath menace from Rasmus Hojgaard, who set the clubhouse goal with 4 birdies in his final 5 holes, with McIlroy bogeying two of his final 4 holes and simply lacking out on the final-hole eagle to pressure a play-off.
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Highlights of day 4 of the Amgen Irish Open, the place Rasmus Hojgaard snatched victory and Rory McIlroy fell simply brief
McIlroy had the prospect to go one higher the next week on the BMW PGA Championship, a decade on from his Wentworth success, the place he went out within the last group and inside three pictures of Matteo Manassero.
A surprising eagle on the par-five seventeenth gave McIlroy a one-shot lead heading to the par-five final, the place he missed out on a closing birdie and dropped right into a three-way play-off with Billy Horschel and Thriston Lawrence.
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Rory McIlroy makes an important putt for an eagle on the seventeenth gap of the BMW PGA Championship to take a share of the lead
Again-to-back birdies within the play-off have been nonetheless not sufficient for McIlroy, who has left having to simply accept a fourth runner-up end of the 12 months after Horschel grabbed the win by eagling the second further play-off gap.
“Two weeks in a row I’ve played well, just not quite well enough,” was how McIlroy assessed two winless weeks on the DP World Tour, the place he was “happy” with how his sport was going into his last three occasions in 2024.
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All of it got here right down to the second playoff gap between Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel to determine who would declare the 2024 BMW PGA Championship
What’s nonetheless to come back for McIlroy in 2024?
McIlroy is returning to the Alfred Dunhill Hyperlinks Championship, the place he’ll accomplice father Gerry within the workforce competitors, earlier than heading to the Center East in November for the ultimate two occasions of the DP World Tour season.
The brand new DP World Tour Play-Offs will see McIlroy function on the Abu Dhabi Championship from November 7-10 and the DP World Tour Championship per week later, each Rolex Sequence occasions, with McIlroy set to go into these high of the Race to Dubai standings.
Watch Rory McIlroy in motion on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour all through the season dwell on Sky Sports activities. Dwell protection from the Alfred Dunhill Hyperlinks Championship begins on Thursday from noon on Sky Sports activities Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and extra with NOW.
