Rory McIlroy enjoyed a fantastic 2022 season as he won the Golfer of the Year award from the Association of Golf Writers in December. The 33-year-old golfer from Northern Ireland claimed three PGA Tour wins this season topping the competition at the RBC Canadian Open, Tour Championship, and CJ Cup.
His victory at the CJ Cup moved him ahead of Scottie Scheffler in the official Race to Dubai. McIlroy also secured his fourth Harry Vardon Trophy after managing to keep his lead and finishing the year on top of the table on the DP World Tour Rankings. His golf betting odds of winning the PLAYERS Championship in the upcoming season stand at +1000 and can be found on the Bovada website.
The first player to reach $10 million in career earnings
Rory McIlroy turned professional in 2007 when he was just 18 years old. He quickly made his way to the top of the rankings following some solid performances on the European Tour. In 2008, McIlroy entered into the top 200 and became the youngest Affiliate member in the European Tour history who managed to earn a tour card.
He missed out on winning his maiden big tournament at the Omega European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland the same year after losing the play-off for first place to Jean-Francois Lucquin. However, 2009 marked his first European Tour victory as he wrapped up the Dubai Desert Classic with an aggregate score of 269, thus beating Justin Rose by the slimmest of margins.
In 2010, McIlroy shot 62 in the final round of the Quail Hollow Championship in Potomac, Maryland, thus winning his maiden PGA Tour title. With that victory, he became joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win a PGA Tour trophy before turning 21 years old.
2011 marked one of his greatest performances at the Major Championships. Finishing off with an 8-shot lead, McIlroy defeated the competition at the 2011 US Open to win his first Major. The young talent broke several records as he simultaneously climbed to a career-high of World No.4.
During the 2011 season, the player from Northern Ireland managed to reach $10 million in career earnings from the European Tour. This achievement made him the youngest player ever to claim that feat.
Little did he know, but 2012 would be even better for him as he clinched another Major victory, winning the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On March 4, McIlroy reached World No.1 for the first time in his career and by the end of the year, he had already earned $10 million on the PGA Tour.
Double Majors in 2014
Despite struggling with equipment change in 2013 and having probably his worst performance since turning pro, McIlroy managed to bounce back the year after. 2014 saw him win the Open Championship by two strokes over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler. On top of that, the golfer from Northern Ireland went down in history books yet once again after becoming the third player after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to win three majors by the age of 25.
A couple of months later, he cemented his dominance with a close win over Phil Mickelson at the 2014 PGA Championship. Many people predicted that we would see him break every record in golf history. Jack Nicklaus even suggested that he had the ability to win 15 or 20 majors if he kept his level of the game.
Struggles at Big Events since 2014
Unfortunately for him, he grabbed just two PGA Tour titles each year in 2015 and 2016 before going winless in 2017 on the biggest stages. After some clumsy performances in 2018, McIlroy came back stronger than ever in 2019 to grab his third Jack Niklaus Award. During the season, he managed to win four PGA Tour events tying his previous record from 2012.
Despite snatching several wins in the upcoming years, McIlroy kept on missing out on the big target. He is currently on an 8-year drought without winning a Major which is something really concerning for a player of his caliber.
In Search of a Fifth Major in 2023
Following his impressive performance during the 2022 season, Rory McIlroy will certainly be motivated to return back on the throne at the Majors. The 33-year-old golfer is still in his prime, but there is even more competition that doesn’t only come from the United States. This will inevitably make his task of winning a Major even tougher as he will have to take advantage of such a favorable situation.
Winning the Vardon Trophy and the Byron Nelson Award will surely give him enough confidence heading into the 2023 season. However, with the likes of Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith, and Jon Rahm, he will need to be on top of his game in order to replicate the earlier success in his career.
