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If, hypothetically, Rory McIlroy were to shock the sporting world and announce his golfing retirement tomorrow, there is little doubt that he would leave the game as one of Europe’s all-time greats.

This is a player who has won four major titles, had lengthy stints at the top of the world rankings and played a key role in numerous Ryder Cup successes for Team Europe, plus topped multiple Order of Merits on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

McIlroy’s latest addition to the already glittering golfing CV came by wrapping up the Race to Dubai for a third successive year, matching Seve Ballesteros’ tally of six Order of Merits on the DP World Tour and moving within two of Colin Montgomerie’s career record.

The Harry Vardon Trophy completes another stellar season for McIlroy, who registered four runner-up finishes alongside the four worldwide victories, although the failure to add to his major tally in 2024 means his achievements can sometimes lack the recognition they ultimately deserve.

“Unfortunately for Rory, I think everybody looks at the glass half-empty,” Shane Lowry said after his own tied-third finish at the DP World Tour Championship. “I look at it glass half-full. He’s had an amazingly consistent year.

“The career he’s had so far is incredible. He has not dropped outside of the top 15 in the world rankings in the last 15 years or something. It’s an absolute joke. He’s putting himself up there with the greats of European golf, not that he already wasn’t.”

A higher standard set for McIlroy?

McIlroy’s 2024 results alone would represent a good career for a large percentage of professional golfers, yet his 14 worldwide top-10s from his 27 starts and his year-after-year consistency still leave many expecting more.

“Rory is held to a higher standard than pretty much everybody else in the world of golf,” Tommy Fleetwood suggested. “I think he’s shown amazing golf again this year, and he’s shown why he’s one of the best to ever do it. Rory has had a great year.

I think it’s easy for everyone to look at what could have happened if things go a little different way. But at the same time, you only get to talk about those things if he is consistently up there with a chance of winning week-in, week-out.”

McIlroy himself acknowledged that his year may not be regarded as a complete success, saying: “I know that my 2024 is going to be defined – at least by others – by the tournaments that I didn’t win as much as the tournaments that I did.

“I know how people are going to view my year and I view my year similarly but at the same time, I still have to remember I won four times. 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 [Schauffele] won two majors, and Scottie [Scheffler] has won The Players, The Masters and an Olympic Gold Medal. They are the only two guys this year that I think that have had better years than me.”

Dubai glory a ‘fitting end’ to year of near-misses

McIlroy lost out by a shot at the season-opening Dubai Invitational, bogeying the final hole when a par would have been enough to book a play-off against eventual champion Fleetwood, but bounced back a week later to successfully defend his Hero Dubai Desert Classic title.

The annual fixation for McIlroy to complete the career Grand Slam failed to materialise at The Masters, extending the wait for his only missing major, but he responded to win back-to-back PGA Tour events soon after at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship.

McIlroy’s biggest heartbreak and “toughest day as a golfer” came at the US Open, where he let a two-shot lead slip over the closing holes and lost out by a shot to Bryson DeChambeau, leaving him taking time away before finishing tied-fourth at the Genesis Scottish Open a month later.

He contended for a medal at the Paris Olympics before settling for another top-five and also experienced a frustrating finish to the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs, then failed to convert a four-shot lead on home soil at the Amgen Irish Open as Rasmus Hojgaard snatched victory.

McIlroy lost out in a play-off to Billy Horschel at the BMW Championship a week later and claimed third at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, before ending his run of near-misses by wrapping up Race to Dubai glory with his third DP World Tour Championship title.

“I’ve been through a lot this year, professionally and personally,” McIlroy said. “It [DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai victory] feels like the fitting end to 2024. I’ve persevered this year a lot. Had close calls and wasn’t able to get it done.

“I think there was probably a lot of self-inflicted pressure. I really wanted to get it done. I love to end the year on a positive note. I was maybe feeling a little more pressure than I should have.

“It was nice to be able to handle it in a decent way. I probably didn’t handle it exactly the way I wanted to, especially around the middle of the round, but the way I finished the round, I’m very pleased with that.”

McIlroy to keep firing forward for more?

The 35-year-old has had more top-two finishes than missed cuts across his remarkable professional career already, spanning some 18 seasons, with McIlroy now focused on continuing his push towards becoming the most successful European golfer in history.

“I’ve come this far, I might as well try and get to eight or nine [Race to Dubai titles],” McIlroy said. “I’m trying to achieve something that no one else in the game has achieved if I am to surpass Monty [Colin Montgomerie].

“I’ve got a good ten years left. Who knows what the world of golf looks like in a few years’ time. But as long as The Race to Dubai is happening and there’s an Order of Merit and we’re on this tour, I’m going to want it.”

McIlroy has long described adding to his major tally for the first time 2014 PGA Championship as “the final piece of the puzzle”, with majors at Quail Hollow – where he has won three times – and Royal Portrush – in his native Northern Ireland – on the 2025 line-up.

“I think he [McIlroy] is more determined than ever to come out firing next year,” Lowry added. “Obviously The Masters will be on the forefront and same as myself, he’ll be looking towards the other big tournaments and The Ryder Cup.”

Focus on McIlroy’s push to claim a Green Jacket at Augusta National and complete the career Grand Slam can wait until April. For now, it’s time to celebrate a player who ended an eventful year – on and off the course – by adding his name to the record books once again.

“Rory brings something extraordinary to any event he’s in,” DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings told Sky Sports. “It’s not only what he can do inside the ropes, but he brings something that’s outside the ropes.

“He’s hugely influential. He’s a very, very smart guy and speaks very well. He has been critical, I would say, to the game as a figure. What he does for the game, in every way, is a huge asset. We’re really lucky to have him. He does a wonderful job for us all.”

Watch Rory McIlroy in action on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream the DP World Tour and more with NOW.