The controversy over who loved the higher 2025 season—Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler—was fierce because the PGA Tour wrapped up in late August.
With Scheffler including each The Open and the PGA Championship to his résumé, posting 17 top-10 finishes in 20 begins, and incomes an eye-watering $27,659,550 in prize cash, the World No.1 appeared untouchable.
However as golf followers who frequently examine websites like Betdaq and each main betting change mentioned the season’s narrative, one factor grew to become abundantly clear: McIlroy wasn’t about to be overshadowed. Not this yr. Not with historical past on the road.
Turning into solely the sixth participant ever to finish the profession Grand Slam, McIlroy reignited the controversy—and with what adopted within the Ryder Cup and the Race to Dubai, the Northern Irishman has arguably nudged forward of his American rival by yr’s finish.
At 36, there’s little or no left for McIlroy to perform in golf apart from maybe that elusive Olympic Gold in Los Angeles in three years’ time. Till then, right here’s a glance again at one of the outstanding seasons of his illustrious profession.
Early-season warning indicators
McIlroy has at all times been recognized for quick begins, constructing kind by the early months earlier than the highlight turns to Augusta.
However 2025 felt totally different from the outset. His two-stroke win over shut buddy Shane Lowry on the Pebble Seashore Professional-Am in February was spectacular, nevertheless it was the dramatic playoff victory over J.J. Spaun at The Gamers that prompt this may be a rare yr.
Momentum was constructing. Hope was rising. And because the azaleas started to bloom at Augusta Nationwide, the sense of future grew stronger.
Profession Grand Slam
There may very well be no extra poetic place for McIlroy to finish his lengthy main drought than the Masters—his white whale, the lone hole on an in any other case glittering profession report.
However the street to the Inexperienced Jacket was removed from easy. At a number of factors in the course of the weekend, particularly within the tension-filled remaining spherical, it seemed just like the ghosts of previous Augusta collapses have been circling as soon as extra.
But this time, McIlroy stood agency.
In a gripping playoff in opposition to Justin Rose, he lastly exorcised these demons, finishing the profession Grand Slam and etching his identify into golf’s most unique membership. It was emotional, cathartic, historic—maybe the defining second of McIlroy’s profession.
Irish Open success
The Open at Royal Portrush didn’t convey the fairy-tale house victory many hoped for, although a tied-seventh end was nonetheless a far cry from the heartbreaking missed minimize on the identical course in 2019. However any lingering disappointment was wiped away weeks later.
On the Ok Membership in September, McIlroy delivered as soon as once more for the Irish trustworthy. A monstrous eagle putt on the 18th compelled a playoff with Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, and additional holes have been all he wanted to seal one other unforgettable Irish Open victory.
It was classic Rory—aptitude, braveness, and a contact of magic.
Away Ryder Cup victory
Again in January, McIlroy laid out his three remaining profession objectives: win the Masters, win Olympic Gold, and win one other away Ryder Cup. Many assumed these would possibly take years—particularly the latter, as away wins are notoriously uncommon.
And but, in one of the dramatic Ryder Cups of the trendy period, Europe shocked the USA with a 15–13 triumph on the hostile Bethpage Black.
McIlroy was central to the cost. Regardless of shedding his singles match to Scheffler, he collected three-and-a-half factors from 4 within the pairs periods, as soon as once more main from the entrance. It was redemption, vindication, and a monumental achievement rolled into one.
Seventh Race to Dubai title
The ultimate jewel in McIlroy’s 2025 crown got here on the DP World Tour. Coming into the ultimate match of the season, solely two gamers had a mathematical probability of catching him within the Race to Dubai standings.
Though he misplaced a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick on the DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy had already finished greater than sufficient.
A seventh Order of Advantage title—his fourth in a row—sealed his place in historical past. Surpassing the legendary Seve Ballesteros and transferring to inside one in every of Colin Montgomerie’s report was an achievement that spoke not solely to McIlroy’s brilliance but in addition to his longevity.
