IN the fullness of time, the golfing year of 2024 will be looked upon as one where off-course wrangling about the future of the game at elite level got almost nowhere, while the on-course excellence of Scottie Scheffler provided more than a few echoes of prime Tiger Woods.
And yet, perhaps the two abiding images from the last 12 months – certainly from an Irish perspective – involved Rory McIlroy, one a picture of delight and the other of enduring pain.
The happiness came at the end of April, when the Holywood man and close friend Shane Lowry took to the stage in New Orleans after teaming up to win the Zurich Classic pairs event, belting out Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, both grinning from ear-to-ear.
Six weeks later, however, McIlroy was slumped over a table in the clubhouse at Pinehurst in North Carolina, having let another chance to end a decade-long wait for a fifth Major title slip through his fingers, bogeying three of his last four holes to hand US Open glory to Bryson DeChambeau.
The year had started in fine fashion for McIlroy, finishing second to Tommy Fleetwood in the DP World Tour’s season-opening Dubai Invitational before going one better a week later, winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic for the fourth time around his beloved Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club.
However, a switch of attention to the PGA Tour, where a busy schedule was put in place to try to peak for The Masters, led to a downturn in form, with only one top-10 recorded in six outings Stateside in the spring.
At the same time, Scheffler embarked a stunning run of form that evoked memories of Woods, with McIlroy playing an unwitting role by publicly advising the Texan to change to a mallet-headed putter to soothe his struggles on the greens.
Scheffler took heed, and the results were immediate as he pocketed a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida, before defending his Players Championship title at Sawgrass a week later, becoming the first man ever to win the ‘fifth Major’ in successive years.
Such form was ominous for everyone else with Augusta in April looming large, particularly with Scheffler having secured a dominant success on Magnolia Lane in 2022.
Those omens proved accurate as the serene Scheffler hit the front on Saturday and stayed solid while all others were struggling on the final day, running out a four-shot victor over Ludvig Aberg, with McIlroy back in 22nd after an error-laden second round of 77 did for his chances.
Not content with having the Green Jacket McIlroy so covets to complete a Grand Slam resting on his shoulders, Scheffler went out the next week and won the RBC Heritage, but by the last weekend in April the Irish guys were smiling as New Orleans was turned green.
McIlroy was the driving force as he and Lowry clinched a PGA Tour success – something that should never be sniffed at – and the good vibes proved a springboard for the Holywood man as he looked back to his old self at another beloved venue a couple of weeks later.
With Xander Schauffele the main danger, McIlroy reminded everyone of his enduring class in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, putting on a Sunday clinic to win by five shots, hoisting the silverware in Charlotte, North Carolina for the fourth time.
That burst of form saw him installed as the main obstacle for Scheffler to overcome in the second Major of the season, the US PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, the scene of McIlroy’s fourth and most recent Major success in 2014.
Instead, it turned out that the local police force was the chief impediment for the world number one, who found himself in custody after a traffic violation before the second round escalated quickly.
Scheffler did taste freedom in time to play his round and was in contention going into the weekend, but a blistering pace set by Schauffele was matched only by DeChambeau, with the American pair going toe-to-toe down the stretch come Sunday.
A birdie putt on the 72nd green found the bottom of the cup as Schauffele finally burst through the Major door, having banged on it very loudly for most of the previous seven years, with DeChambeau second and Lowry sixth, thanks in the main to a blistering third round 62 that further underlined the Offaly man’s reputation as a man for the big occasion.
McIlroy had to make do with 12th, reflecting that he “played well but didn’t hole the putts”.
He played a whole lot better a month later at the US Open, but once again it was a tale of putts that didn’t drop, this time at the most crucial of stages.
The Holywood star set the pace alongside Patrick Cantlay after the first day at Pinehurst, but DeChambeau led going into the final round, with Cantlay, McIlroy and Mathieu Pavon three back.
However, an almost flawless performance for the first 14 holes saw that deficit turned into a two-shot advantage by the time McIlroy reached the 15th tee, and the Major agony looked sure to end.
The rollercoaster took another downward twist, however, as a wrong club selection led to a bogey four, and worse was to follow as a missed tiddler on the 16th opened the door for DeChambeau again.
There was still a chance, but more pain came on the final hole as a missed fairway meant McIlroy had a four-foot putt for par that slipped past, and when DeChambeau held his nerve with a brilliant up-and-down from a bunker, another gut-wrenching chapter was added to the Rory story.
There was no media reaction in North Carolina, but by the time McIlroy landed in Troon for the Open Championship in July, he was in phlegmatic mood.
“I’d much rather have disappointing Sundays than go home on a Friday night,” he said, before duly leaving Ayrshire on the Friday evening thanks to a missed cut, joining a host of big names blown off-course by the Scottish weather.
In contrast, Lowry was loving life at Royal Troon, leading by two at halfway in his quest for a second Claret Jug. However, a nightmare back nine in the worst of the weather on Saturday put paid to his chances, with Billy Horschel assuming the lead.
Schauffele was looming large on the leaderboard, a composed presence in the storms, and he looked the winner a long way from home, compiling a birdie-free 65 on the final day to emerge with a two-shot victory over Horschel and Justin Rose, with Lowry again in sixth.
With the Major season over, the focus turned to the Olympics in Paris and the FedEx Cup in America, and fittingly it was Scheffler who stood up tallest on both fronts, flying home for gold at Le Golf National before claiming the FedEx riches after the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta at the end of August.
One of the big benefits of having all the main American business wrapped up by the end of summer is that the DP World Tour moves centre-stage, and the majestic links at Royal County Down was the main focus in early September, with McIlroy in the leading actor role.
For the vast majority of the four days, the home hero seemed certain to give the huge galleries the outcome they all desired, but a familiar tale unfolded in the shadow of the Mournes as a couple of late mistakes and a stunning surge from Rasmus Hojgaard saw the Dane spoil the party.
McIlroy had to make do with second again the following week in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, with a flurry of brilliance from Horschel setting up a play-off, which the American duly won thanks to a superb eagle on the second extra hole.
While the trophies were eluding the world number three, the big cheques being picked up ensured he was in an almost unassailable position in the Race to Dubai heading to the Middle-East for the final couple of events in November.
After finishing third to Fleetwood in Abu Dhabi, one more return to a venue that has been kind before worked wonders for the 35-year-old, who saw off the best Europe has to offer on the Earth Course to seal a sixth Race to Dubai title in style, claiming victory in the DP World Tour Championship – gaining revenge after Newcastle by defeating Rasmus Hojgaard by two shots – for the third time.
After going level with Seve Ballesteros on six Order of Merit wins – two behind record-holder Colin Montgomerie – McIlroy summed up his 2024 in emotional fashion.
“It’s amazing to equal Seve, the Godfather of European golf,” he said.
“I’ve been through a lot this year, professionally and personally, so it feels like a fitting end to 2024.”
While one Holywood member was all smiles in Dubai, another also had reason to be cheerful as Tom McKibbin did enough to clinch the 10th and final PGA Tour card on offer for DP World Tour members after a hugely consistent season.
The 21-year-old produced nine top-10 finishes throughout 2024, coming close to a second career victory when losing a play-off to Marcel Siem at the Italian Open, and has done more than enough to suggest he can make a mark in America once he gets used to balancing commitments on both sides of the Atlantic.
The highlight of Lowry’s year was undoubtedly his four days alongside McIlroy in New Orleans, but two sixth-place finishes in Majors will have him in fine fettle going into the big events in 2025, particularly with the Open returning to Royal Portrush, the setting for his finest hour to date in 2019.
And individual victory eluded the Clara man, but Padraig Harrington had no such worries on the Champions Tour in America, racking up three more titles at the Hoag Classic in California in March, the Dick’s Open in New York in June, and the Simmons Bank Championship in Arizona in October, and there should be more silverware on the way for the evergreen Dubliner in 2025.
Another Dubliner, Conor Purcell will be on the DP World Tour in 2025 after two wins, including the NI Open at Galgorm, saw him finish sixth in the Challenge Tour rankings.
Leona Maguire, meanwhile, became the first Irish player to win on the Ladies’ European Tour at the Aramco Team Series in London, and she also reached the final of the T-Mobile Matchplay in Las Vegas in April, losing to America’s Nelly Korda who at the time was on a run of form to rival Scheffler.
However, it was a tough year overall for Cavan’s Maguire, who has slipped to 51st in the world rankings and was surprisingly a peripheral figure as Europe relinquished their hold on the Solheim Cup in Virginia in September, despite being the key performer in both 2021 and 2023.
Captain Suzann Pettersen opted to use Maguire just once before the singles during a facile victory for the Americans, although the Irish star did show her class and fighting spirit by readily dismissing Ally Ewing on the final day, qualities that can see her standing rise again in the near future.
Brendan Lawlor went winless in 2024 but maintained a high standard on the Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour, never finishing outside the top four, while he hosted the Irish Invitational at the K Club in September, won by England’s Kipp Poppert, and continues to be at the forefront of bringing the tour towards the mainstream.
“We’re trying to turn disability golf into what the PGA Tour is, what the DP World Tour is,” said the Louth man, who is ranked third in the world.
LIV Golf is still trying to become more mainstream and barely made a ripple in terms of viewers despite some of the world’s very best plying their trade on the Saudi-backed circuit.
The biggest moment of 2024 for LIV came when DeChambeau won the US Open, while Jon Rahm topped the individual standings ahead of Joaquin Niemann thanks to two wins in the last three events of the year.
Work is still going on behind the scenes to bring the different factions together again, but on the evidence of his runaway victory at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas earlier this month – having not played since September– Scheffler will have no fear of taking anyone on in 2025, and he is already a hot favourite to secure a third Masters title come April.
McIlroy will have that date ringed in his diary as well as the Major drought stretches into an 11th year, but with the US Open being held at his Quail Hollow playground and motivation high for the Open’s return to Portrush, perhaps 2025 could be the year.
In the words of the song he and Lowry belted out in New Orleans in the springtime, Don’t Stop Believin’.
