Rory McIlroy gave himself a passing mark when asked to grade his 2024 season, but that did not come without some notes. Heading into this week's DP World Tour Championship, the 35-year-old has a chance to claim his third straight season-long crown on the European circuit to finish off a campaign many will remember not for his triumphs but rather his shortcomings. McIlroy got off to a great start in that quest, finishing tied atop the leaderboard after Round 1 on Thursday.
"[My year was] incredibly consistent again," McIlroy said. "I think I've been really proud of that over the last few years. But then, at the same time, you know, thinking about the ones that got away. I could be sitting up here with a fifth major title and I am not. So that stings, and that's something that I have to come to terms with, but at the same time, I've got plenty more opportunities in the future.
"But I really just tried to focus on the positives this year of consistently performing at the highest level. You know, still having three wins with an opportunity to get a fourth here this week, to win another Race to Dubai title. You know, did I achieve every goal I set for myself this year? Probably not.
"But I still consider it a successful season. You've got two guys at the top of the world rankings. Xander [Schauffele] winning two majors. You know, Scottie [Scheffler] winning a Masters and a Players and the Olympics. They certainly separated themselves from the pack this year. I'm obviously very aware of that, and it only makes me more motivated to try to emulate what they did this year."
McIlroy ultimately gave himself a "B" for a year many of his peers would dream of having. The Northern Irishman began his season in the Middle East and raised his fourth Dubai Desert Classic trophy before transitioning to his PGA Tour schedule. At the same time, a big-left miss with the driver crept into his repertoire and hindered his ability to contend. He showed flashes of breaking through, like at the Players Championship where he held the first-round lead but the big numbers proved too much to overcome.
He finally righted the ship at the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry where the two were victorious in a playoff at the team event. McIlroy's third win of the year came in his very next start as a final-round 65 catapulted him past Xander Schauffele and into the winner's circle at the Wells Fargo Championship for the fourth time in his career.
The Wells Fargo Championship also marked McIlroy's final tournament before the PGA Championship where he made his return to Valhalla -- the site of his last major championship in 2014. A second-round 71 was his undoing in Louisville as record-scoring conditions exaggerated any hiccup.
Two more events passed before the event of McIlroy's 2024 season, the U.S. Open. The four-time major champion opened with a 65 at Pinehurst No. 2 to share the first-round lead with Patrick Cantlay and more-or-less held serve until the final nine of the championship. Commanding a one-stroke lead with four holes to play, McIlroy played this final stretch in 2 over and relinquished what would have been his fifth major triumph to Bryson DeChambeau.
He continued to put himself in position to win tournaments from there but continued to fall short. In his 10 starts since the U.S. Open, McIlroy has compiled five top-five finishes including agonizing runner-up results at both the Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship.
Despite the heartache, McIlroy's season is among the top in the game. Even should he go without another victory this week, McIlroy will have the second-most worldwide wins behind only the aforementioned Scheffler with three. He'll have nabbed his 25th (and 26th) career PGA Tour titles in the process and join a short list of players with four majors and 25 PGA Tour wins all before his late 30s.
"I think it's a nice time to reflect on the year when you come here and you're on the cusp of doing something that, to me, is still pretty meaningful, and just thinking about the body you've put together over the last 10 or 11 months," McIlroy said. "You don't think about it during the year because you're just going from week-to-week and trying to do your best every tournament that you show up to.
"But sort of when you get to the business end of things at the end of the year, you start to realize at least I've put together a year that I'm pretty proud of, even if it hasn't culminated in some of the things that I've wanted to achieve. But it's still been an incredibly consistent year, and I've been proud of that."