Rory McIlroy won millions of pounds in 2024 and added two more PGA titles to his impressive tally of tournament wins. He also had a number of good results in Europe and that helped him claim victory in the Race to Dubai for a sixth time. But in many ways, 2024 will be a year that the Northern Irish ace was very glad to see the back of.
It was another calendar year – the 10th in a row – that came and went without him winning a major. Not winning one of the big four events is one thing, but losing one is quite another and, as the old truism goes, it is the hope that kills you. Rory and his many fans worldwide thought he was set to end his long drought in the majors when he led the US Open by two shots with just four holes to play. However, he missed putts from within four feet on the 70th and 72nd hole of the tournament to miss out on glory.
It took him a long time to get over that loss, even though he managed to produce some good results and go on to claim that sixth Race to Dubai title. But at the start of 2025, he was clear about his remaining aims in the game. He stated that he had “three goals for the rest of my career” and that they were to win the US Masters (and thus complete the career Grand Slam), claim an Olympic medal (we assume he meant in golf!), and win one more away Ryder Cup.
He made it clear that he was going to focus on those goals, plan his calendar with those in mind, and that if he was able to achieve all three he could retire a happy man, not that retirement is anywhere near his thoughts yet. So his target in this early stage of the season is to get himself to Augusta in April in the best shape, physically, mentally and in terms of form, in order to be able to finally win the Masters.
He said that he wanted to “get back to winning the biggest tournaments in the world” and also added that he had been “agonisingly close for the past few years, without being able to get it done and that that is the main focus of this year.” Well, not long after he made this statement, he played at Pebble Beach in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and if that is a sign of what is to come, the Augusta tailor should start getting Rory’s chest measurements, as the Green Jacket could finally be coming his way.
Rory Beats Ryder Cup Colleagues in Near-Faultless Display
Rory McIlroy fires 66 to win AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am https://t.co/WpiZEHwl4o pic.twitter.com/OliNvCLtvX
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 3, 2025
Rory rarely plays in this tournament, tending to stick to the DP World Tour at this stage of the season and partly feeling the course at Pebble Beach does not suit his game. Over the past decade and a half prior to this win he came to this event just twice, playing the course the same number of times at the US Open in that period. Across those four tournaments, his best finish was ninth (2019 US Open), with two missed cuts.
Against that background, the Northern Irish ace can hardly have been overly confident heading to California, despite a solid fourth-placed finish at the Dubai Desert Classic in his previous event. However, he started very well, shooting a 66 on a day when scoring was very good. He was helped by an ace on the 15th and his six under put him within two of the lead.
His feats on that opening day were matched by his Irish Ryder Cup friend and colleague Shane Lowry. The man from County Offaly also shot an opening 66 – and also made a hole-in-one! Lowry’s, which he joked was better than Rory’s, came on the iconic seventh hole but both men still had work to do to catch Russel Henley, who made a fine 64 to lead after the first round.
Second Round Tougher for Irish Duo
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Both McIlroy and Lowry slipped back during the second round, again mirroring each other, but this time with cores of 70. Scoring was generally a little tougher, though Austrian Sepp Straka was one of a number of players who managed a 65. That was Straka’s second 65 of the tournament and after 36 holes he led the way on a very impressive score of 130, 14 under, and six clear of the eventual winner and three better off than Henley.
Amazingly, the third round once again saw Lowry and McIlroy, partners at the 2021 Ryder Cup (incidentally, Straka and Lowry played together at the 2023 Ryder Cup), match each other. This time they mixed it up with 65s, the joint-best scores of the day. That moved the pair right into the thick of things on 15 under, one back from Straka, who led heading into the Sunday, despite a third-round 70.
McIlroy Brings it Home
Straka was unable to keep himself in the hunt on the final day and his 72 saw him finish down in seventh place. Justin Rose, one of several players to shoot four rounds in the 60s, finished tied third (with Lucas Glover) on 270, 18 under, but it soon became clear that this would be a battle between the north and south of Ireland and the two friends.
The eventual champion, who collected a very tidy $3.6m for his four days of work, made a bogey on the eighth but then birdied 10 and 12. With earlier birdies on two and seven he headed to the 14th tee on 18 under but then made a superb pair of threes to take control. The first saw him eagle the 14th, holing a 26-foot putt, and he then added a birdie on the 15th to move clear on 21 under.
Lowry had gone out in 37 but produced some superb golf on the inward nine to give Rory a little bit of a fright. Five birdies and no dropped shots brought him home in 31 but in the end, he could only manage a 68 to Rory’s 66. Both men will be delighted with their tournaments and the winner will hope this is the first of at least three wins this year… with the other two coming in Georgia in April and New York in September!