Rory McIlroy: A victim of his own success and lack thereof - Irish ...

Rory McIlroy will claim his sixth Race to Dubai title today but will surpassing Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight order of merit titles be enough to be crowned Europe’s greatest ever player?

At 35 years of age many will expect McIlroy to overtake Monty in the coming years and set a new record as European number one, that is if the Race to Dubai still exists after golf’s civil war ends.

Ending his career as the record European order of merit winner will still matter to McIlroy’s legacy when he eventually retires, but if his major championship famine continues it might rule him out of the running as Europe’s greatest.

Despite winning everything else there is to win during that ‘barren’ spell, McIlroy’s career will be measured on how many major championships he won.

A career that seemed destined for double digits in major wins including a grand slam at Augusta National, has been frustratingly and maddeningly stuck on four since he brilliantly captured the 2014 PGA Championship as a much more curly haired 25-year-old.

As it stands, the Holywood man sits below Seve (5) and Nick Faldo (6) – also Harry Vardon (7) – in the list of European major winners and one would suspect he will have to top that mini league to become the emperor.

Even Monty isn’t considered Europe’s greatest…

For a long time now it’s been a case of majors or bust for McIlroy whose career looks set to be defined by the near misses of the last decade rather than the four majors he won between 2011 and 2014.

Had he spaced out those four majors between 2011 and 2024 he may be viewed in a different light. But would he have been tipped for Tiger Woods esque stardom, grand slams or world dominance?

Probably not.

He is both a victim of his own success and lack thereof.

Whatever he has achieved and will achieve outside of winning majors counts for very little among the general public with the term ‘bottler’ cropping up at a similar frequency to ‘one of the greats.’

If someone calls him ‘Spursy’ he may just pack it in. You don’t shake off that tag!

Winning Race to Dubai’s looks great for the CV and McIlroy is set for his third straight triumph, but it certainly lacks the gravitas of years gone by despite the fact he will be moving level with Seve and with just Monty ahead of him.

In the context of McIlroy’s career, this crowning glory won’t raise too many eyebrows and there is a debate that becoming Europe’s top dog isn’t that big a deal anymore.

Europe’s best players play predominantly on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour is set to lose ten of its brightest prospects each year with the strategic alliance that allows the top-10 not already exempt on the Race to Dubai to earn PGA Tour cards for the following season.

The top European players will play the desert swing in the new year, play their home open and a swing of events in the autumn post FedEx Cup as well as bulking up their Race to Dubai points in the majors.

Theoretically the Race to Dubai is easier to win for McIlroy as the majority of most regular DP World Tour events feature depleted fields and are usually unwatchable for the general public.

Certainly not the season long race that it was when Seve and Monty were cleaning up.

However, McIlroy has placed importance on winning the Race to Dubai and while he will trim his schedule for next year it will be the PGA Tour that suffers, so he certainly puts weight on playing on the DP World Tour.

Ultimately it’s been a season of near misses for McIlroy. The US Open was his most crushing blow and will be the stick of which to beat him with when asked to reflect on 2024.

“Incredibly consistent again,” was McIlroy’s summary of his campaign.“But then at the same time, you know, thinking about the ones that got away, I could be sitting up here with a fifth major title and I am not.

“So that stings and that’s something that I have to come to terms with, but at the same time I’ve got plenty more opportunities in the future. Did I achieve every goal I set for myself this year? Probably not. But I still consider it a successful season.”

Agonising losses at the Irish Open and at Wentworth followed and while Scottie Scheffler won seven times in all this year including some of golf’s biggest titles and Xander Schauffele won two majors, McIlroy, before Sunday has three wins this year – one alongside Shane Lowry – which can be dubbed as a bog standard campaign as losses of concentration and errors under pressure blighted his year.

A sixth race to Dubai title will come his way this afternoon. Each a more boring formality than the last which unfortunately takes away the glamour of matching Seve’s record.

Seve. Forever adored. McIlroy. Forever damned.