Rory McIlroy has faced a tough finish to the 2024 PGA Tour season, having failed to live up to the remarkable standards set by Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele
Rory McIlroy is the world No. 3 (
Image: Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy has played down his 2024 campaign, despite still sitting third in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) behind Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele in first and second.
Having won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour in January, McIlroy has added two PGA Tour crowns to his CV this year, winning the Wells Fargo Championship and the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry. A man of extremely high standards though, McIlroy knows he has not been at his best.
Instead it has been the ever-dominant Scheffler who has taken the reins as the man to beat in 2024, having won a whopping six times on the PGA Tour, including the Masters – not forgetting Olympic gold too.
He has not been alone though, as his fellow countryman Schauffele has found the best form of his career over the past year. Having waited so long to become a major champion, Schauffele won two in a matter of months, first clinching the PGA Championship in May.
Two months later he was back in the winners’ circle again, this time winning the Open Championship at Royal Troon ahead of Justin Rose. Heading into this week’s season finale at the Tour Championship, McIlroy was forced to start four shots behind Schauffele and six behind Scheffler due to the staggered strokes system.
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And whilst he is the closest golfer in the rankings to the leading pair, the four-time major winner feels a long way off at East Lake. “You know, seeing what Scottie [Scheffler] and Xander [Schauffele] have done this year — I’m third in the world rankings, but I feel like a distant third.
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Rory McIlroy is in action at the Tour Championship ( Getty Images)
“You know, they’ve had great years, and I look at my year compared to them and, I mean, it doesn’t compare.” McIlroy failed to make any real ground on the top of the leaderboard in Thursday’s opening round in Atlanta, carding a two-under-par 69 with four birdies and two bogeys.
Scheffler has taken full advantage of his lead though, bursting away from the pack. The world No. 1 had been critical of the FedEx Cup finale system previously, with his 25-week lead at the top of the standings merited with a single one-shot advantage.
In typical Scheffler fashion however he did the talking with his golf game, carding a superb six-under 65 on day one, despite starting his round with a bogey to leave him seven shots clear of Schauffele. I wasn’t thinking about the lead out there today,” Scheffler said post-round.
“There’s no reason to. It’s the first day of the tournament. It’s 72 holes. It’s a long time out there to be playing with a lead or whatever it is. I was just focused on staying in my own world and continuing to just try to execute.”
