Rory McIlroy will know what his critics are likely to say about him after he missed out on the BMW PGA Championship title following a play-off with Billy Horschel at Wentworth on Sunday.
Rory McIlroy went into the week at Wentworth off the back of an agonising finish at the Irish Open, with the 35-year-old just missing out on the title to Rasmus Hojgaard at Royal County Down.
Of course, any disappointing finish for McIlroy feels particularly significant after what happened at the US Open earlier this year. So there would have been a few nerves when he moved to 20 under par with a brilliant eagle on the 17th at the BMW PGA Championship.
Ultimately, McIlroy would find himself in a play-off with Thriston Lawrence and Billy Horschel. Lawrence was first to blink, as he was knocked out on the first extra hole. McIlroy and Horschel meanwhile, both found the 18th green in two on their second play-off hole.
What some golf fans say about Rory McIlroy
The Northern Irishman would two-putt to make a birdie. But Horschel would end up rolling in his eagle putt to secure the title for a second time in his career. Unfortunately, it was another disappointing finish for McIlroy.
However, some have taken issue with the idea that McIlroy threw away the tournament. Speaking on Sky Sports (broadcast on 22/9; 17:51), Nick Dougherty suggested that he is almost fed up of hearing McIlroy’s mental game be questioned.
“You know, it’s interesting, at the very start of the day, a gentleman came up to our studio position right here, and the usual, people shout up, ‘who do you think’s going to win?’ Really, they want to tell you who they think is going to win. ‘It won’t be McIlroy, he’ll bottle it again’,” he said.
“The amount of times I hear that for a player that’s so popular, and the unfairness of that statement because it’s not by that. Sure, he gives stuff away, but Rory is weighed and measured by the good, the bad, and everything in between as well.”
What is often forgotten about the four-time major champion
If McIlroy took every near-miss to heart, he would probably have long retired. Few players put themselves in contention more often than McIlroy, and he has still managed to win three times in 2024. Had he got across the line at Pinehurst in June, perceptions of his year would have been completely different.
McIlroy insisted that the Irish Open did not hurt as much as some perhaps suspected. And he will take comfort in the fact that Horschel had to make an eagle to win on the second play-off hole on Sunday.
At some stage, it is likely to all click for McIlroy again and he is going to go on the kind of run which silences all of his doubters. Certainly, Dougherty is right to suggest that no-one has any right at all to claim that McIlroy has bottled anything during his incredible career.
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