Rory McIlroy still has years of competitive golf ahead of him, but the Northern Irishman currently sits in the top 25 in the list of all-time PGA Tour wins. Those wins also place him third in the table of career earnings behind only Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. McIlroy had a mercurial rise in professional golf although he has seen lulls in the years that followed.
McIlroy turned professional in 2007 at the age of 17. In just a few weeks of being professional, McIlroy became the youngest player to ever secure a European Tour card. In a short time, he had turned heads and his career hadn’t even taken off yet.
The Northern Irishman spent much of 2008 and 2009 on the European Tour; and his first tournament win came in 2009 at the Dubai Desert Classic. Just over a year later he won his first PGA Tour event at the Quail Hollow Championship. McIlroy was making waves, but he hadn’t truly established himself as a top PGA Tour professional. That changed in 2011 when McIlroy won the U.S. Open by eight strokes over Jason Day.
McIlroy followed up on 2011 with an even better 2012 on the PGA Tour. He won three events including the PGA Championship. While 2013 was a barren year, McIlroy rebounded in 2014 by winning the Open Championship and the PGA Championship for the second time. Over the next two years, McIlroy collected four PGA Tournament trophies. He suffered through 2017 with constant injuries that hampered his drive. It kept McIlroy from competing in some of the PGA’s events, and he even spent 100 days off the tour.
McIlroy has already won three different majors and four in total. The only tournament that has eluded him is the Masters. His best finish in the event came in 2022 when McIlroy finished second overall. He is still in his prime and many more victories could still be ahead of him. The Northern Irishman should have plenty more opportunities to win the Masters and add his name to the list of golf Grand Slam winners if he can can stay free of injury and remain playing at his very best.
Rory McIlroy’s Major Wins
| Years | Masters | US PGA | U.S. Open | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ |
| 2012 | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ |
| 2014 | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ | ✅ |
Masters Tournament Wins: None
Rory McIlroy became one of just three people to win four Majors by the time he was 25, joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. In spite of this, it looked as though his days of winning Majors were behind him by the time the 2022 Masters Tournament came around, given that he hadn’t won one since 2014. His first Masters had seen him finished tied-20th in 2009, missing the cut the following year. Between 2014 and 2018 he finished top ten every year, but his next best finish came when he tied for fifth in 2020. It was two years later when it looked like he was finally going to win it, only to end up missing out to Scottie Scheffler by three shots.
PGA Championship Wins: 2
Rory McIlroy’s first foray into the Majors came in 2009, when he made the golfing world sit up and take notice thanks to his tied-third finish at the PGA Championship. He did exactly the same thing the following year, but looked like he has missed his chance when he ended up tied-64th in 2011 having won the US Open. He then won the PGA Championship two out of the following three years, finishing tied-eighth in the intervening year. In the entries that he’s enjoyed since he hasn’t really been able to enjoy the same level of success, with tied-seventh in 2023 being one of the best efforts that he was able to put forward.
2012 – Record 8-Stroke Winning Margin
Held on the Ocean Course of Kiawah Island Golf Resort, the 2012 PGA Championship was the first Major that the course had hosted, having previously been the location for the Ryder Cup in 1991. McIlroy shot a -5 score of 67 in his first round to sit one off the lead, then dropped back after shooting 75 on day two. Weather conditions meant that day three was stretched between the Saturday and the Sunday, with McIlroy shooting 67 to take the lead at -7. He had a bogie-free final round to score a 66, ending with a total score for the week of 275, which was -13 and eight strokes above second place; the largest margin of victory in PGA Championship history.
2014 – One Shot Victory at Valhalla
Having picked up his first PGA Championship title two years before, McIlroy turned up at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky hoping to win his fourth Major. He got off to a similar start to in 2012, finishing his first round with a -5 score of 66. He took the lead by a stroke at the end of day two, having carded a 67, then kept it at the end of the Saturday thanks to the same score. Phil Mickelson had also shot 67 and 67, but his 69 on the first day put him three shots behind McIlroy as the Sunday got underway. McIlroy shot a 68 for a total of 268 for the week, which was -16 for the course, with Mickelson’s 66 not quite enough to force a play-off.
US Open Wins: 1
There is little question that the US Open will always hold a special place in Rory McIlroy’s heart, considering the fact that it was the first Major that he won. His first attempt at it came in 2009 when he ended up tied-tenth, then the following year he missed the cut before securing victory in 2011. He finished in the top ten for six years running between 2019 and 2024, which included two second-place near misses. Perhaps the cruelest of them came in 2024, when it looked like he would at least be able to take it to a play-off, only for Bryson DeChambeau to get up and down from a bunker on the 18th to win it by a shot.
2011 – Eleven Records Broken with -16 Score
Played on the Blue Course at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland, the 2011 US Open saw Rory McIlroy set eleven US Open records over the course of the weekend. He became just the fifth person to shoot under par for all four rounds, getting underway with a -6 score of 65. The second round was played over two days because of weather but his good form continued and he shot 66. A 68 on the Saturday put him eight shots clear of Y. E. Yang in second, meaning he’d have to all but collapse on the Sunday to lose out. He didn’t, shooting 69 to end up on 268 for the week, which was -16 and set a 72-hole US Open record.
Open Championship Wins: 1
Given the fact that Rory McIlroy grew up in Northern Ireland, there was always a sense that he should be winning the Open Championship at some point in his career. In fact, it was the first of the Majors that he entered, finishing tied-42 and being the Low Amateur in 2007. Two years later and he ended up tied-third, which was a trick he repeated a year later. He then had three years where he under-performed, coming tied-25th and tied-60th before missing the cut, only to come back a year later and win it. He didn’t take part in 2015, then came top five three years running. His third-place finish in 2022 showed he’s not completely out of it.
2014 – Sixth Wire-to-Wire Open Winner
Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake on the Wirral was the venue for the 2014 Open Championship, having also hosted it in 2006 when Tiger Woods won. The weather was kind, with the sun shining and the wind staying low to mean the links course wasn’t as challenging as it could’ve been. McIlroy led at the end of day one after shooting a -6 score of 66, then kept the leas at the end of day two by repeating his score from the day before. The Saturday produced a round of 68 to put him on -16, six shots clear of second, with a final round of 71 meaning he led wire-to-wire and ended up with a total of 271 for the week, which was -17 and two shots ahead of Rickie Fowler in second.