After world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler enjoyed a bumper 12 months in 2024 as he won the Masters, rival Rory McIlroy has made a series of telling remarks about his peer’s performances
Rory McIlroy demonstrated his humility as he revealed that he has been studying Scottie Scheffler’s showings in recent times as he looks to finally end his wait for another major championship triumph.
The Northern Irishman was able to build on his DP World Tour Championship win in November with victory at the first PGA Tour event of the year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month. Despite his continued success, the 35-year-old is in no mood to get complacent as he opened up on his efforts to improve his game.
McIlroy, who is ranked No. 3 in the world, won a staggering four majors before the age of 25, joining esteemed company such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in doing so. However, he has now gone a decade without adding to that tally, with his agonizing collapse in the final round at the U.S. Open in June the closest he has come to breaking his hoodoo in that time.
After putting the seal on his 27th PGA TOUR title at Pebble Beach, McIlroy has now explained that he has been studying the intricacies of rival Scheffler’s game as he looks to ensure more success moving forward. He said: “I’m a big admirer of Scottie’s Scheffler for a lot of different reasons.
“Every time I play with him and watch how he plays and how disciplined he is, it’s a really cool thing to watch,” he continued, as he waxed lyrical about the current world No. 1 in a telling admission, before adding: “And I’m trying to take a little bit of a leaf from out of his book.”
The American enjoyed a memorable 12 months during 2024, clinching a second major title of his career so far at the Masters. Alongside securing his first win at Augusta National since 2022, Scheffler won gold in the golf event at the Olympics in Paris, while also retaining his title at The Players Championship.
His performances have certainly not passed McIlroy by, who said of his rival’s brilliance across 2024: “When one of your peers has the year like he had last year, and honestly the year like he had in ’23 as well, you start to take notice at what he is doing and what has made him or helped him separate himself from the rest of the fields.
Explaining how he has been studying Scheffler’s game, he added: “There’re impulses that I have on the golf course that it looks like Scottie doesn’t have and I have to rein those in, and I have to try to be a little more disciplined about it. For me, it’s really about trying to get the best out of myself.
“I know if I can play to my capabilities and do what I did out there a little bit more, the world rankings or the career PGA Tour wins will take care of themselves. Scottie is and has been the best player in our game for the last couple of years and I feel like I’ve been close. That’s motivating to try to get the best out of myself and try to become the best player in the world again.”