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Before the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Rory McIlroy opened up about his lingering feelings from the US Open near-miss. Despite highs like winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and aiding Europe’s Ryder Cup victory, that one-shot loss to Wyndham Clark still stings.
He’s still fixated on that final round, even after five months, showing how much he’s chasing another Major win. Rory McIlroy is happy with the year behind him, although there were some moments where he thinks he could have done more.
Winning the Ryder Cup is definitely the best thing that happened to him. “I’d probably give it a 7 out of 10. Played good golf. I had the two wins. I think the big — I had my best-ever Ryder Cup, which feels like a win to me, especially coming off the back of Whistling Straits,” he said.
“So I’ve been happy with the year. If I looked back on one thing, I’ll rue that miss at L.A. I had a great opportunity there to pick up another major and I didn’t. But I’m still not going to let that take away from the fact that it’s been another really consistent, solid year with some really good performances.”
Even without participating in last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, McIlroy sealed his fifth Race to Dubai crown thanks to favorable outcomes.
Rory McIlroy and his career
Although Rory had huge ambitions from the earliest days of his career, he could never believe that he would achieve certain successes. This gives him additional motivation for the challenges that follow.
He is happy because of his constancy. “It’s really nice to have my name on the Harry Vardon Trophy for the fifth time and just be one behind Seve and still a few behind Monty,” he continued. “But you’re talking about the greats of the European game.
If someone had told 18-year-old Rory when I was making my professional debut in 2007 that I would have won five Order of Merits up to this point, I wouldn’t have believed them. I certainly don’t take it for granted, and you know, it shows the consistency that I’ve played with over the last few years that even though I feel like I’ve had a good year, I don’t feel like I’ve had a great year, but I can still go ahead and achieve things like this.” Source: Golfmonthly
