For most of the past few decades, golf has struggled to maintain popularity among the likes of the other major sports in America. When LIV emerged as a threat to the PGA Tour, many of golf’s biggest stars bolted. As golf has slowly begun to build a larger, more youthful fanbase, there are only a couple of big names still on the PGA Tour. One of those names is Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy has had a long, successful career in golf. When he retires, he’ll end his career as one of the better golfers in the history of the sport. He’s won four majors, including the 2011 and 2012 U.S. Opens, the 2014 Open Championship and the 2014 PGA Championship. Those four majors in three years catapulted him to superstardom. Unfortunately, since his last major victory nine years ago, he hasn’t repeated the feat.
This is not a knock against his talent as a golfer. During that timespan, Mcllroy has been nothing short of incredible. On Sunday in Liverpool, Rory finished sixth, which is somehow one of his worst finishes in any major over the past two years.
In the eight majors he’s competed in from 2022-23, Mcilroy has finished second twice, third one time, and has at least been in the top-eight positions in the other five.
It’s honestly remarkable how close McIlroy has gotten without winning one. In the last eight majors, he has a combined score of -41 under par. He’s easily first in that statistic. Rounding out the top five is Scottie Scheffler at -36, Cameron Smith at -21, Viktor Hovland at -14, and Matt Fitzpatrick at -13. Aside from Scheffler, Rory has far outperformed the rest of his competition here.
Close, but no cigar.
So, What’s Going Wrong?
Aside from his miserable performance at the Masters this April, Rory McIlroy hasn’t had a bad outing in any major during the last two years. He just hasn’t been able to put a complete weekend together. McIlroy led the 2022 PGA Championship after round one. He led the 2022 Open Championship six holes into the final day. He even lost the 2023 U.S. Open by just one shot.
Even in the miserable weather that plagued the course in Liverpool last weekend, McIlroy hung around the top of the leaderboard. Yet, whether it was his putter failing him on the greens or his inability to keep the drives sharp, he just could not keep up with Scott Harman.
While the clouds covered the entire course throughout the weekend, it seemed McIlroy had a storm-cloud of his own following him around the course.
When Will Rory McIlroy Win Another Major?
Rory McIlroy has no doubt gotten the short end of the stick (or club) in recent years. Whether it’s been his own inability to put a full weekend together, or dominating performances like that of Brian Harman this past weekend, it just hasn’t worked out for him. However, at this point, the tide seems like it’s got to change soon.
Rory’s sustained success in these majors has been nothing short of impressive. In all of the majors combined, the case could be made that he’s been the most consistent golfer of them all.
Only time will tell. If he keeps playing this well, he’ll surely win another major soon.