Rory McIlroy needs a 2024 Olympic gold medal to forget another year without a major title.
It will take Rory McIlroy a long time to accept that he has gone 10 years without a major title. Now he will have to wait 265 days for his next chance.
It sounded ironic when the signalman at Augusta National said: “Please watch out. Rory McIlroy tees off.” It reflected the Northern Irishman’s poor form of late.
Reality proved on the fourth hole of round 2. He needed a good start to make the cut, to be able to return to the British Open. What he did was triple bogey.
“22 holes in the tournament and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week,” McIlroy said after missing the cut by five strokes.
Whatever his plans for the holiday, his thoughts are on how to salvage another season without a title at the four biggest events. This is a year that has been made more difficult by the previous major.
McIlroy led by two shots at the US Open. He was in control until he missed a putt on the 16th hole and then fell behind when he missed a par putt from about four feet on the final hole.
McIlroy was so distraught that he left Pinehurst, withdrew from the next tournament that week and spent a few days in Manhattan trying to get his mind right.
McIlroy famously said after the 2023 US Open — another opportunity he missed — that, “I’ll spend 100 Sundays like this to get another major championship.”
And at Royal Troon at the recent British Open Golf Championship? “I’d rather have a disappointing Sunday than go home on Friday,” he said.
He has won four majors and 26 PGA Tour titles in his career, along with three FedEx Cups. And as he says, he has 25 events to play before the end of the year, not just four.
Next up for McIlroy is the 2024 Olympics . And that raises the question of whether a gold medal can fill the void of the many titles he missed out on this year?
Golf is relatively new to the Olympic programme, having only returned in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. McIlroy skipped that Summer Games, torn and slightly upset about having to choose between the British or Irish flag.
He represented Northern Ireland at Tokyo 2020 and lost a seven-man play-off for bronze. “I’ve never tried so hard in my life to finish third,” he said.
In addition to the 2024 Olympics , McIllroy is also aiming for two titles on both sides of the Atlantic: the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Race to Dubai on the European Tour. McIlroy finished third in the FedEx Cup and led in Europe.
Tiger Woods went 11 years between majors, but that’s understandable. His personal life collapsed after a shocking revelation about a series of infidelity, followed by multiple leg injuries, four back surgeries, painkillers that led to a DUI arrest, and age.
For McIlroy, his last major was when he was 25. But without too many life issues or injuries, 10 years without a major is really a problem.