Rory McIlroy: Major Losses Still 'Sting,' World's Top Two Motivating Him for 2025

Rory McIlroy won three times in 2024 and is on the brink of winning his third straight Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour, yet admits there's tournaments this year he's still coming to terms with.

Rory McIlroy is honest in assessing his 2024 season. / Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rory McIlroy has won three times this year and is on the brink of claiming his third straight Race to Dubai title. But how would he assess his 2024 overall?

“Incredibly consistent again,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. “I think I've been really proud of that over the last few years.

“But then at the same time, 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.”

The 35-year-old Northern Irishman won the DP World Tour's Hero Dubai Desert Championship in January and then won in the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic (teamed with Shane Lowry) and the Wells Fargo Championship.

However, those victories are overshadowed by his runner-up at the U.S. Open, where he missed two short putts on the final three holes at Pinehurst to finish one stroke back of Bryson DeChambeau.

Even though the world No. 3 hasn't won a major since 2014, Tommy Fleetwood noted Tuesday that “Rory is held to a higher standard than pretty much everybody else in the world of golf.” Therefore, he had a year that most players can only dream of.

“Rory has had a great year,” Fleetwood said. “Of course, I think it's easy for everyone to look at what could have happened if things go a little different way. But at the same time, you only get to talk about those things if he is consistently up there with a chance of winning week-in, week-out.”

McIlroy is aware of that. But the fact that Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele separated themselves from the rest of the world's best players by winning three of the year's four majors will be in the back of McIlroy's mind as he tries to put more trophies on his shelf in 2025.

“Did I achieve every goal I set for myself this year? Probably not,” McIlroy said. “But I still consider it a successful season. You've got two guys at the top of the World Rankings down there winning two majors. You know, Scottie winning a Masters and a (Players Championship) 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.”