Rory McIlroy is that good with a golf club in his hand that he can do things 99% of the PGA and DP World Tour can’t do and he still comes in for bits of criticism.
The Northern Irishman won the DP World Tour Championship to seal another good year in golf and head into 2025 with plenty of optimism.
However, given how good McIlroy is, there have been missed opportunities as well. The near miss at the US Open, along with coming close at the Canadian and Scottish Opens stand out, while he wasn’t too far away from an Olympic medal either.
Of course, for most players, they’d snap your hand off for a year like McIlroys.
But while the 35-year-old has been praised for his 2024, one current DP World Tour player has suggested McIlroy would win a lot more if he heeded some advice.
Rory McIlroy told what he can do to win even more tournaments in 2025
Speaking on the latest Sky Sports Golf podcast about McIlroy’s success, DP World Tour player Richard McEvoy admitted that McIlroy can be even better if he just reins things in every so often.
“Any year he continues on winning is a good year for Rory. I think though, we see his platform as the majors don’t we. And if he doesn’t win a major and continues to not win one, then a lot of people see it as a negative and a bad year for Rory but it really isn’t,” McEvoy said.
“Winning golf tournaments in general is a hard thing to do. Winning majors is even more of a hard thing to do and listen, he is an incredible golfer, he really really is.
“I think this year was a year of near-misses. Could have had another two or three wins easily if things went his way. I think one thing I noticed yesterday and I’ve noticed it in the last few months – listen it’s very very hard to be critical of Rory because he’s such a talented golfer – but if there’s one thing I’ve really noticed, occasionally his course management can let him down. He can be too aggressive at times.
“Listen, he’s one of the best drivers of a golf ball that golf’s ever seen. One of the longest and straightest. But occasionally he could rein in I think. I think play to your strengths, you don’t need to force it.”
| Rory McIlroy majors (2024) | Final finishing position |
| The Masters | T22 |
| The US Open | 2nd |
| PGA Championship | T12 |
| The Open | Missed CUT |
What else has been said about Rory McIlroy in 2024?
We would be here all day if we listed everything said about Rory from the last 12 months but when it comes to his actual game, there is a common theme.
Paul McGinley has suggested McIlroy cut the mistakes out in order to become more like Scottie Scheffler, while McIlroy himself admitted that some of the criticism can bother him at times.
Still, there are those who very much appreciate McIlroy for what he is in the world of golf.
Billy Horschel named McIlroy as the world’s best driver of a golf ball, while Shane Lowry lauded McIlroy’s consistency.
McIlroy, then, can very much hold his head high in 2024 and one day, hopefully in a major, it will all come together and he’ll finally get number five.
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