Rory McIlroy’s birdie putt fell into the bottom of the hole, and for just a second, his body was overcome with emotion.
But the emotion that joined this birdie on the 18th at the DP World Tour Championship to claim his fourth and final worldwide win of 2024 was not the usual blend of jubilation and achievement. It looked to be an emotion of a deeper, rawer kind — crashing over him in an instant and yet building within him for months. That emotion looked like relief.
The events of the previous few hours had pushed him to the brink. Once again he found himself charging down the back nine at a tournament clinging to a lead, and once again it seemed like the forces of fate were conspiring against him. He gave up four shots between the seventh and 14th holes, making a pair of bogeys and missing a pair of birdies on par-5s. But then came an all-important birdie on the 16th, and by the time he strode up to the 18th green even a three-putt would have been enough to secure the victory over Rasmus Hojgaard.
McIlroy two-putted for birdie, and the wave washed over him. He’d won his final start of 2024, and his sixth Race to Dubai Championship — the DP World Tour’s season-long prize — tying Seve Ballesteros’ record. He was reminded of that fact a few minutes later, as he stood for an interview with the DP World Tour’s broadcast team, and as Rory tried to find the words to describe the depth and breadth of tying Ballesteros, he began to cry.
“Yeah, it’s really cool,” he eventually choked out. “I think everyone knows what Seve means to European golf and to Ryder Cup players. In the European Ryder Cup locker room, all we have are quotes of Seve. We had a changing room with Seve’s shirt from ’95, the last Ryder Cup he played. He means so much to European golf and for me to be mentioned in the same breath, I’m very proud.”
It was perhaps not a surprise to see McIlroy emotional in this light. He has long held a deep reverence for golf history. Seeing his name mentioned next to Ballesteros’ reflects the gravity and totality of McIlroy’s achievements, and the historic orbit they have cast him upon.
But did McIlroy’s emotions speak to more than simply a historic victory? Of course they did.
You don’t need a forensic knowledge of golf history to understand the tumult of the year that McIlroy exited with a victory on Sunday. In many ways, the turbulence of McIlroy’s recent history has come to reflect that of professional golf — a time of radical highs and lows, of deep wells of uncertainty and glimmers of hope. As McIlroy spoke post-round, the totality of it all — the historic victory, the U.S. Open collapse, the personal strife, the ever-so-close golf game — seemed to settle upon him.
“I think what I’ve learned is it doesn’t have to be important for everyone else,” McIlroy said. “I think what I did today is very meaningful for me personally. I would think from an outside perspective, it mightn’t be that meaningful if people are just looking from the outside, in terms of other things that I’ve achieved in the game and things that I didn’t achieve this year. But just because it maybe isn’t as important to them doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be as important to me.”
“Look, yeah, I know how people are going to view my year and I view my year similarly,” he said. “But at the same time, I still have to remember I won four times and I won a second Race to Dubai. I accumulated a lot of big finishes and big performances, and the two guys that had better years than me have had career years. Xander won two majors, and Scottie has won a Players and a Masters and an Olympic Gold Medal. They are the only two guys this year that I think that have had better years than me.”
It will be easy for McIlroy’s critics to see Sunday’s finish as the continuation of a tortured recent competitive life. Hell, he sees the overlaps too. This win wasn’t nearly as historically significant as the one that skittered away in Pinehurst, and his competition wasn’t nearly as fearsome. Still, he blinked down the stretch on Sunday in much the same way. This one didn’t burn him, but had he defeated his demons, or simply pushed them aside?
Either way, McIlroy will not be forced to answer those questions on Sunday. He ends 2024 with a four-win season he knows will always be remembered for the fact it was not five, but he leaves Dubai with a victory — a historic victory — that could be enough to drown the bitter taste.
Soon there will be an offseason. And soon after that, a brand-new year brimming with possibility. But now? Now there’s a reason to keep moving forward.
What a relief.