It feels harsh to criticise a player who has won three times this year and contented on multiple other occasions, but Rory McIlroy may look back on 2024 as things stand as a campaign that could – or should - have offered so much more.
McIlroy has threatened major glory, was in the running for FedExCup victory and is still the overwhelming favourite to win the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai for a sixth time, although he has come agonisingly close to adding his win tally during a season of near-misses on both sides of the Atlantic.
The squandered chance to end his decade-long major drought at the US Open is one of four runner-up finishes already in 2024, with McIlroy also ending second - in a variety of ways - at the Dubai Invitational, Amgen Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship.
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McIlroy has three more opportunities left this year to get back to winning ways, starting at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland this week before rounding off a hectic campaign with back-to-back Play-Off events next month in the Middle East - the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship.
Ahead of his latest DP World Tour appearance, live on Sky Sports from Thursday, we take a closer look back at McIlroy's eventful 2024 so far...
Mixed fortunes in Dubai and slow start on PGA Tour
An early indication of the year to come was provided at the season-opening Dubai Invitational, where McIlroy let a narrow lead slip on the final hole and had to settle for tied-second as Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood snatched victory.
McIlroy had gone from three behind with eight holes to go to one ahead, despite three-putting the 14th from inside three feet, only for him to bogey the par-five last - after finding the water - to allow Fleetwood to claim a one-shot win.
"Sloppy mistakes" but a "really positive week" was McIlroy's verdict from his first near-miss of the campaign, before he bounced in his next start to successfully defend his Hero Dubai Desert Classic title and claim a record fourth victory at the event.
McIlroy was 10 strokes off the halfway lead before charging into contention with a third-round 63 at Emirates Golf Club, then impressed on the final day to claim a one-shot victory over Adrian Meronk to move top of the DP World Tour rankings.
Hopes of taking that form over to the PGA Tour were quickly short-lived, with McIlroy finishing no higher than 19th in his next five starts before recovering from a poor third round at the Valero Texas Open to end in third spot.
That strong finish in San Antonio raised the prospect of potentially ending his wait for the career Grand Slam at The Masters, only for McIlroy to leave Augusta National with him admitting there was "lots of room for improvement" after ending a frustrating week in tied-22nd.
Positive steps and back-to-back victories
McIlroy failed to build on being within four strokes of the halfway lead in his next start, fading to a share of 33rd at the RBC Heritage as Scottie Scheffler claimed a fourth PGA Tour victory in five starts, but returned to the winner's circle later that month alongside Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry.
A "drunken lunch" after both featuring in Europe's Ryder Cup victory the previous autumn led to McIlroy making his debut in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, with the pair defeating Martin Trainer and Chad Ramey in a play-off to win the PGA Tour's team event.
McIlroy produced a back-nine masterclass to cruise to a five-shot victory in his next start at the Wells Fargo Championship, his fourth win at Quail Hollow, with back-to-back successes making him the pre-tournament favourite to win the PGA Championship the following week.
An elusive fifth major didn't materialise at Valhalla, the venue when he won the 2014 PGA Championship, with McIlroy in tied-12th as Xander Schauffele registered his first of two major victories in 2024.
McIlroy made a Sunday charge at the RBC Canadian Open a fortnight later but ended tied-fourth, three strokes behind Robert MacIntyre, then dropped out of contention again at the Memorial Tournament after rounds of 73 and 76 over the weekend.
Major heartbreak continues at Pinehurst
Four consecutive top-15 PGA Tour finishes were followed by him grabbing a share of the early lead at the US Open, with McIlroy previously going on to win each of the previous three majors where he had made a bogey-free start.
McIlroy insisted he still had a "great chance" when two late bogeys in his third round left him three strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau, with that confidence validated when he stood on the 14th tee on Sunday at Pinehurst No 2 with a two-shot advantage.
The Northern Irishman couldn't get up and down from off the green to save par at the par-three 15th and then missed from inside three feet at the next, the first putt in 497 attempts he didn't convert from that distance, with McIlroy then also bogeying the par-four last.
McIlroy then watched on in disbelief as DeChambeau snatched victory with a dramatic par, leaving him runner-up for a second successive year and describing letting a major win slip through his fingers as his 'toughest day as a professional golfer'.
He withdrew from the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship and said he would 'take a few weeks away', with McIlroy returning the next month to claim a share of fourth in his Genesis Scottish Open title defence.
Open struggles and underwhelming summer
McIlroy's ambitions of lifting the Claret Jug at The Open were all but ended by an opening-round 78 at Royal Troon, where the former world No 1 already started thinking about holiday plans after playing a four-hole stretch in six over early in his second round.
A missed cut at The Open means McIlroy's major wait will at least enter an 11th season, while he also fell short when in the medal hunt - representing Team Ireland - a fortnight later - during the final round of the Paris Olympics.
McIlroy had jumped within one of the lead after starting his back nine with five consecutive birdies at Le Golf National, only to double-bogey the par-four 15th from the middle of the fairway and finish with three consecutive pars to end two shots outside the medal places.
The opportunity to win a record-breaking fourth FedExCup remained a target for McIlroy heading into the season-ending Playoffs, where a disappointing weekend at the FedEx St Jude Championship left him tied-68th of the 70 players in the field.
He was also unable to contend at the BMW Championship, leaving him six shots back under the staggered-scoring system for the season-ending Tour Championship, the same margin he overturned to win in 2022, where Scheffler claimed FedExCup victory and McIlroy finished 14 strokes back in tied-ninth.
Double disappointment on the DP World Tour
McIlroy admitted he was considering a reduced schedule in 2025 after hitting "a wall" during the run of six events in an eight-week stretch, although seemed destined for a landmark win on home soil in his next start after taking a one-shot lead into the final round of the Amgen Irish Open.
The home favourite increased his lead to four strokes but came under threat from Rasmus Hojgaard, who set the clubhouse target with four birdies in his last five holes, with McIlroy bogeying two of his last four holes and just missing out on the final-hole eagle to force a play-off.
McIlroy had the chance to go one better the following week at the BMW PGA Championship, a decade on from his Wentworth success, where he went out in the final group and within three shots of Matteo Manassero.
A stunning eagle at the par-five 17th gave McIlroy a one-shot lead heading to the par-five last, where he missed out on a closing birdie and dropped into a three-way play-off with Billy Horschel and Thriston Lawrence.
Back-to-back birdies in the play-off were still not enough for McIlroy, who has left having to accept a fourth runner-up finish of the year after Horschel grabbed the win by eagling the second extra play-off hole.
"Two weeks in a row I've played well, just not quite well enough," was how McIlroy assessed two winless weeks on the DP World Tour, where he was "happy" with how his game was going into his final three events in 2024.
What's still to come for McIlroy in 2024?
McIlroy is returning to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he will partner father Gerry in the team competition, before heading to the Middle East in November for the final two events of the DP World Tour season.
The new DP World Tour Play-Offs will see McIlroy feature at the Abu Dhabi Championship from November 7-10 and the DP World Tour Championship a week later, both Rolex Series events, with McIlroy set to head into those top of the Race to Dubai standings.
Watch Rory McIlroy in action on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour throughout the season live on Sky Sports. Live coverage from the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship begins on Thursday from midday on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and more with NOW.
