Rory McIlroy says if he’s starting to feel like Scottie Scheffler as he wins again at the Irish Open

Add as preferred source on Google

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler are the best two golfers in the world right now.

McIlroy‘s victory at the Irish Open on Sunday was his fourth victory of 2025 but the problem for the Northern Irishman is that Scheffler has still been a lot better than him in pretty much every single metric this season.

McIlroy shared his delight immediately after winning the Irish Open and his attention will now switch to the BMW PGA Championship next week before the Ryder Cup at the end of the month, where he will, of course, come face-to-face with Scheffler.

However, if he is to overtake the 29-year-old at the top of the world rankings anytime soon, he has a lot of work to do.

McIlroy must improve his game inside 100 yards if he’s to challenge Scheffler, and there were definitely some positive signs in that regard at The K Club this week.

It was only last month when McIlroy apparently admitted that he’s unable to challenge Scheffler every week.

Well, he may have a different outlook after his win in Ireland this week.

Rory McIlroy says if he’s starting to feel like Scottie Scheffler after his Irish Open win

McIlroy was in buoyant mood when speaking to the media after his victory on home soil this week, unsurprisingly so.

After his win at The K Club, a journalist asked McIlroy the following question:

“Rory, you said at The Open, I think it might have been on Saturday, that Scottie looks inevitable. Do you feel a bit inevitable yourself, like you’re bulletproof with the way that you’ve taken the chances that you’ve had this year and been able to put them away?“

McIlroy responded by saying: “I think the more and more you get yourself in these positions, the more comfortable you are. I’m not always in a situation like we had on the back nine where there’s three or four of us in with a chance. I always feel like I always put myself in those positions and be able to find a way to get it done.

“It doesn’t always work out that way, but as I said, the more you get yourself in those positions, the more comfortable you feel. I think the more experience you have, the more you figure out what is going to be enough to get the job done. I’ve played over 400 professional tournaments, and I’d like to think I’ve been in contention in at least 25 percent of them, if not more.

“So I’ve had an ability to try to win big golf tournaments, and I sort of feel like I’ve got the experience to know what to do and when to press and when to be conservative. It’s just finding that balance.“

He seems to be exuding confidence once again, much like the old McIlroy.

That is great news for Team Europe ahead of the showdown with the United States at Bethpage Black later this month.

However, it won’t be great news for Scheffler ahead of the 2026 PGA Tour season.

Rory McIlroy vs Scottie Scheffler: 2025 seasons compared

McIlroy’s win at the Irish Open rubber-stamped the fact that his 2025 season has been a truly exceptional one.

In any other season, he would surely have run away with the Player of the Year award, but Scheffler’s brilliance will most likely mean that he misses out on that accolade.

Here are their results in 2025 compared against each other:

Scheffler has just about edged McIlroy this season.

The American’s two major wins in addition to a Signature Event victory and a FedEx Cup Playoff triumph, as well as his runaway win at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, proves just how dominant he was.

However, McIlroy was a close second to Scheffler, and now he will be desperate to close the gap from the start of the 2026 season onwards.