Rory McIlroy has been at the summit of professional golf for nearly 15 years now.
It was only a couple of years ago when Scottie Scheffler burst onto the scene and took McIlroy‘s mantle as the best golfer in the world.
The Northern Irishman and the American have once again been the standout players in the game in 2025, both winning three times including a major championship each.
McIlroy has five major championships to his name and 29 PGA Tour titles while Scheffler has three and 16.
Many top journalists and golf analysts believe that Scheffler will actually have won more majors than McIlroy by the time their respective careers have finished.
Scheffler is undoubtedly a more consistent golfer than McIlroy, and he has proven that this season.
However, the 35-year-old’s longevity at the very pinnacle of the game is something that he deserves huge praise for.
Rory McIlroy suggests he is under appreciated as he makes Scottie Scheffler point
One thing that cannot be denied is that McIlroy has maintained his place at the top of the professional golfing tree for longer than most have managed to do in the past.
Sure, he has had his ups and downs but what pro golfer hasn’t?
The Northern Irishman addressed the media on Wednesday ahead of the Scottish Open and was asked just how difficult it is to remain on top of your game for such a prolonged period of time.
He said: “Yeah, I think it’s one of the under appreciated things about any sport. You look at what Djokovic is doing at Wimbledon over the last couple weeks or what some of those guys have done or what someone like a Cristiano Ronaldo is still doing at 40 years old, or Tom Brady in American football; that longevity piece is something that maybe isn’t talked about enough.
“Because once you get to a certain level, I feel like the journey on the way up is almost — it’s not — I’m not going to say it’s easy but you have momentum and you’re riding that wave to the top. And then once you get there, yeah, it takes just as much work, if not more work, to stay there. Because I think about my career before I won this major this year, the last major I won in 2014, I had never heard of Scottie Scheffler.
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
“So these talents and these players just keep coming and keep getting better each and every generation, and I think you have to adapt your game to make sure that you’re able to hang with these generations, and I feel like I’m one generation ahead of Scottie, for example, who is still in his 20s.
“You see all these younger kids that are coming up, the likes of a Michael Thorbjornsen or Luke Clanton or these guys that basically are ready to play at the top level coming out of college, and you have to make sure you’re staying on top of what makes you such a great player.
“But you also have to look at the trends and see, okay, well, the guys that are playing well, what are they doing or what are they — is there something that I need to add to my repertoire to keep trying to stay ahead of them.
“So I think that is a very important piece of it, and this is — you know, it’s my 18th year on tour. I’ve been winning professional events for 16 years, and I just think my drive to keep trying to get a little bit better or trying to look for little holes in my game that I can tidy up, I think that’s a big piece of it.“
Rory McIlroy’s major champion wins
McIlroy’s haul of five majors is impressive, but he definitely should have a couple more to show for his efforts at the very least.
The 2022 Open and the 2024 US Open are two that easily could have gone his way.
YearTournamentWinning scoreMarginRunner(s)-up2011U.S. Open−16 (65-66-68-69=268)8 strokesJason Day2012PGA Championship−13 (67-75-67-66=275)8 strokesDavid Lynn2014The Open Championship−17 (66-66-68-71=271)2 strokesRickie Fowler,
Sergio Garcia2014PGA Championship−16 (66-67-67-68=268)1 strokePhil Mickelson2025Masters Tournament−11 (72-66-66-73=277)PlayoffJustin RoseRory McIlroy major championship wins
McIlroy has already cemented his position at the top of the game.
However, in order to be viewed as a top five all-time player, he will definitely need to win two or three more majors.
And he is unquestionably capable of doing just that.
