Rory McIlroy doesn’t have to look far for motivation for next year.
All he has to do is glance up at the two players ahead of him in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Though he was proud of his “incredibly consistent year,” McIlroy acknowledged Wednesday at the DP World Tour Championship that his year will still largely be remembered for some of the opportunities that were squandered, none bigger than his final-hour collapse at the U.S. Open, where he coughed up a two-shot lead with five holes to play.
“Thinking about the ones that got away, I could be sitting up here with a fifth major title and I’m not,” McIlroy told reporters. “So that stings and that’s something that I have to come to terms with, but at the same time I’ve got plenty more opportunities in the future. But I really just tried to focus on the positives this year of consistently performing at the highest level.
“Did I achieve every goal I set for myself this year? Probably not. But I still consider it a successful season.”
It just couldn’t match up to the pace set by Scottie Scheffler, who won eight times overall (including the Masters, Players, FedExCup and Olympics), and Xander Schauffele, who knocked off the first two major titles of his career.
“They clearly separated themselves from the pack this year,” said McIlroy, who has three worldwide titles this year. “I’m obviously very aware of that, and it only makes me more motivated to try to emulate what they did this year.”
Of course, there’s still plenty that McIlroy can achieve this week in Dubai, where he has a significant lead in the season-long standings and is looking to become the Europe No. 1 for the sixth time, moving him alongside Seve Ballesteros on the all-time list. Among the scenarios, McIlroy can hold off South African Thriston Lawrence for the Race to Dubai title with a top-10 finish in the season finale.
“That would be a really cool achievement for me,” McIlroy said.
