Rory McIlroy won his first golf tournament in 2009. It was the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour. Since then, he hasn’t stopped winning. With this Sunday’s Irish Open, he now has 45 professional victories. Only three years without a win (2013, 2017, and 2020) in this impressive 16-year sequence. McIlroy has always won, and won a lot, but he hasn’t always putted well. In fact, the conclusion we could reach is that Rory has lifted a pile of trophies despite his putting.
However, something has changed this year. It is, by far, his best season in putting statistics. By a long way. He finished in eighth position on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Putting, while on the DP World Tour he is second (in 2024 he was 27th and in 2023 he finished 22nd. That’s as far as the statistics go in Europe). Until now, his best position in the American circuit in this area had been 16th in 2022. And that was already an exception. In the 14 years recorded on the PGA Tour since 2010, McIlroy has finished five times beyond the 100th position and twelve times below the 41st position. His best performances with the putter until this season had been the aforementioned 16th place and a 24th in 2019. His putting, in short, has always been consistently poor, although occasionally, as expected, it could be very brilliant.
Thus, we are witnessing the best version of McIlroy with the putter in his entire career. Perhaps that’s why he is close to the record for victories achieved in a single year. Right now, he has four, and his best record is five in 2012. He still has some opportunities like Wentworth, Abu Dhabi, the Dubai Finale, and we’ll see if the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, an event he always attends, although it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
Why has McIlroy’s significant improvement with the putter occurred? The Northern Irishman explains it in two fundamental aspects. One is the continuous work he has been doing with Brad Faxon for six years. The other has to do with the instrument itself. “Working with Fax has helped me a lot. I’ve learned a few things during this time. We keep it very, very simple. There are really just a couple of ideas. Sometimes he comes to The Bear’s Club, or wherever, for a putting lesson, and we don’t even hit a putt. We have a coffee, talk about mindset, talk about routine, and that’s it. One of the best putts I felt I holed this Sunday was the second putt on the second hole of the playoff, a short, tricky, left-to-right four-footer. It was a very solid stroke, especially putting before Lagergren. The style of putter I’ve chosen, the Spider, mallet type, definitely helps me in certain aspects of my stroke. It allows me to be a bit more consistent,” he notes.
McIlroy had no qualms about revealing exactly what this putting routine consists of this year and with which he feels so comfortable. “I focus on my process. For me, it’s keeping the right arm soft, keeping the putter balanced at impact, and choosing a spot a couple of feet in front of me to align with. I think if you’re under pressure and your routine is fine-tuned, everything improves a bit and becomes a bit easier.”
Similarly, McIlroy, who has won many more playoffs than he has lost in recent years, specifically five in a row on the PGA Tour and this last one in Ireland (he lost the first two on the PGA Tour and his first five on the DP World Tour), explains that he has learned to face them. And for this, he has drawn from tennis. “I feel like playoffs in golf are a bit like tie-breaks. It’s about who blinks first. It’s about being a bit patient. On that 18th hole, we both played it quite safe the first two times. Then, on the third, Joakim was probably a bit more aggressive with his second shot, closed it slightly, and sent it into the water. I’ve watched a lot of tennis this week because of the US Open, and if you can hold your serve, it’s about that. The same in the Masters, the same in THE PLAYERS. In playoffs, I feel much more comfortable. I think I have a good strategy to face them, that’s probably the key,” he points out.
Finally, beyond those four victories and the great goal of winning the Ryder Cup at Bethpage, McIlroy highlighted after his victory at the K Club a statistic he feels especially proud of. “The more you put yourself in those situations to win a tournament, the more comfortable you feel. The more experience you have, the more you figure out what will be enough to finish it off. I’ve played more than 400 professional tournaments, and I like to think I’ve been in the mix in at least 25% of them, if not more. I’ve had the chance to try to win big golf tournaments, and I feel I have the experience to know what to do, when to push, and when to be conservative. It’s about finding that balance.” No wonder he’s proud. One in four weeks, Rory is in contention to win the tournament. And it’s likely that’s an understatement. Of his 436 tournaments counting towards the world ranking, he has finished in the top 10 on 218 occasions. Exactly half. Incredible.
