The Ryder Cup proved Rory McIlroy is the biggest winner in golf this year despite Scottie Scheffler’s incredible season

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Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler’s rivalry is the biggest in professional golf at the moment, and it continued at the Ryder Cup.

The two best players in the world went head-to-head at Bethpage Black on Sunday, with Scheffler winning 1up.

However, McIlroy was far happier than the American at the end of the day as Europe won the Ryder Cup 15-13.

Europe’s victory confirmed that McIlroy has enjoyed a better 2025 season than Scheffler, despite all that the world number one has achieved.

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Rory McIlroy had a better 2025 season than Scottie Scheffler

McIlroy had an incredible start to the 2025 season, winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship.

McIlroy then completed the career Grand Slam with an unbelievable victory at The Masters, perhaps the greatest golfing achievement of the 2020s decade.

The Northern Irishman’s form then dipped in the following months, whereas Scheffler upped his game significantly over the summer.

He won six events, including the PGA Championship and the Open Championship, cementing his place as the world number one.

Rory McIlroy vs Scottie Scheffler wins in 2025

It was hard to argue that Scheffler’s season had not leapfrogged McIlroy’s, but then the Masters champion also won the Irish Open in front of his home crowd.

And now, the icing on the cake for McIlroy was winning 3.5 of Europe’s 15 points at Bethpage Black last weekend.

He battled through some nasty abuse to lead his team to victory, whereas Scheffler lost four of his five matches at the Ryder Cup.

There is now absolutely no way that McIlroy would swap his 2025 for Scheffler’s.

Rory McIlroy knows he will not have a better year in golf than 2025

McIlroy has accepted that he will probably not experience another season as successful as this one for the rest of his career.

Four tournament wins and an away Ryder Cup victory will be almost impossible to beat, even if he continues playing for another decade.

“Yeah. You know, I made my dreams come true at Augusta this year,” he told the BBC after the Ryder Cup.

“Then, to do what we have done this week… unless I maybe repeat it at some point, I don’t think there’s going to be a better year in my golfing career.”

Golf fans will now hope that McIlroy is still motivated to play at the highest level next season and beyond.