Rory McIlroy is looking to finish his year with a flourish and he’s right in the mix to win at the DP World Tour Championship over in Dubai.
McIlroy went into his opening round yesterday very much an overwhelming favourite to win a third straight Race to Dubai and cement his legacy in the game further.
Indeed, only Thriston Lawrence can really challenge McIlroy and even then, the Northern Irishman would need to have a disaster.
Tommy Fleetwood has been backed to push McIlroy this weekend but after round one, McIlroy is in control, sitting on five-under alongside Tyrrell Hatton at the top.
Of course, whenever McIlroy plays anywhere, he’s under the spotlight and thanks to his past successes, anything but a win always looks like a failure.
And that was the theme of the questions posed to McIlroy after round one.
Rory McIlroy speaks out on if he’s criticised too much
Speaking to the media immediately after his opening round of five-under in Dubai, McIlroy was questioned on if he feels he gets a harder time due to his standing in the game.
And according to McIlroy, it’s very much something of a compliment…depending on his mood!
“It depends what day it is. I think overall I have to take it as a compliment. It’s testament to the body of work I have put in over the course of my 17 pr 18 year career that I am held to a high standard and I want to live up to those standards too,” McIlroy said.
“It’s not just everyone else. I fully expect to turn up to tournaments and have a chance to win every time. I am under no illusions that I am going to win every time but with how many chances I have given myself, especially this year it feels like I should have probably won a couple more times.
“But if I go on and have three more good days here and win the tournament I will look back on 2024 pretty fondly.”
McIlroy should be proud of his career
It was a very human response from McIlroy, this.
On one hand, he knows that the eyeballs of the world are on him purely because he has been and remains such a good player. If he isn’t winning or in contention, then suddenly everyone has something to say.
Still, McIlroy did hint that depending on the day or mood it can get to him, and that’s fair enough.
Despite not winning that elusive fifth major in 2024, Tommy Fleetwood pointed out just how good McIlroy has been in the last 12 months.
And the reality with that praise is that for 99% of the world’s golfers, a year like most of Rory McIlroy’s in his career would do just nicely.
McIlroy, then, should be super proud of his career and with more to come, he could very well go down as one of the very best to ever do it.
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