Watch out golfing world: Rory McIlroy claims he is a ‘better player’ now than he’s ever been.
And for a guy that has climbed up to second place in the all-time career earnings list following his triumph at the PLAYERS Championship in March, that is a terrifying prospect for everyone else.
McIlroy’s PLAYERS triumph, backed by his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach earlier in the season, is the first time that he’s won two PGA TOUR events at the start of a year before The Masters in April.
So could the Irishman’s game be in the best shape it has ever been?
Making moves
It’s notable that McIlroy’s stellar start to the season, compared to Scottie Scheffler’s relatively quiet opening gambit, has had an impact on the sports betting odds for this year’s majors.
The golf betting for The Masters has seen Scheffler lengthened to odds of 9/2 and McIlroy shortened to 6/1 – the closest proximity between the pair in the market ahead of the extravaganza at Augusta National.
The same trend is noticeable for the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Open Championship too, so it’s clear that confidence in the Irishman is high.
Proud to join such elite company with two @THEPLAYERS wins. It’s one of the greatest championships we play. This game has a way of testing you, but there’s no better feeling than getting it done on a stage like this. pic.twitter.com/EQsC1VL1FW
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) March 17, 2025
It’s somewhat ironic that McIlroy himself feels that he’s playing the best golf of his life right now, because the stats at the PLAYERS don’t bear out that argument. The 35-year-old found just 48.2% of fairways at TPC Sawgrass – a uniquely poor performance, relative to his impeccable standards, with driver in hand.
He also lost strokes to the field around-the-greens, and so his win at the PLAYERS was built on a foundation of stellar iron and wedge play, plus a tremendous turn with the putter, with McIlroy gaining +1.24 on the field with the flatstick.
As we know, Rory is a tremendous driver of the golf ball and chips as well as you would expect from a player raised on Links golf growing up in Ireland. When all of the facets of his game come together at the same time, is there anybody in world golf that can match him?
Major mindset
Winning professional golf tournaments is hard… lifting a major trophy an altogether tougher challenge still.
But even so, there is an argument to suggest that McIlroy, with just four majors to his name, has somewhat underachieved at the very highest level relative to his ability.
There are only four opportunities to win a biggie each year, of course, but the fact that the Irishman hasn’t got his hands on some major silverware since 2014 is both surprising and, perhaps, telling. His struggles in closing out victory at the 2024 U.S. Open were indicative, too. He held a decent lead down the home stretch at Pinehurst, but three bogeys in the closing holes allowed Bryson DeChambeau to pinch the prize.
RORY ALSO THREE-PUTTS
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2024
McIlroy and DeChambeau are now tied at -6. pic.twitter.com/e9n8G9rRC5
McIlroy’s missed two-foot and three-foot putts in that disastrous run were the most compelling – particularly when you consider that, over the course of the 2024 season, his success rate in that range in PGA TOUR events was a near-perfect 99.71 percent from more than 600 attempts.
“I feel like I’m a better player now than I ever have been,” he said after the PLAYERS. Will such hubris help McIlroy to overcome his major demons in 2025?
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