Rory McIlroy Insists He's 'Happy With Where My Game Is' After Agonizing BMW PGA Championship Defeat

The four-time Major winner finished runner-up on the DP World Tour for the second week in a row at Wentworth, but he's determined to focus on the positives

Rory McIlroy takes a shot in the final round of the BMW PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy lost in a playoff to Billy Horschel in the BMW PGA Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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For the second week in succession, Rory McIlroy came up just short of victory on the DP World Tour.

The 35-year-old had looked set for glory at last week’s Irish Open before a late surge from Rasmus Hojgaard left him runner-up, and at the BMW PGA Championship, he again missed out after forcing a three-man playoff with Thriston Lawrence and Billy Horschel.

When Lawrence fell by the wayside after the first extra hole, it was Horschel who closed out victory on the second playoff hole when he made an eagle after McIlroy’s effort to do the same missed by inches.

While the agonizing manner of the defeat at Wentworth will surely be hard for McIlroy to take, he insisted afterwards that, overall, he’s happy with the state of his game.

He said: “Two weeks in a row, I've played well. Just not quite well enough. But you know, happy with where my game is and happy where it's trending. I've got a week off here, and then get back at it in the Dunhill in a couple weeks.”

Rory McIlroy congratulates Billy Horschel after the BMW PGA Championship

Billy Horschel made an eagle on the second playoff hole to edge out McIlroy

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The near-miss is the latest in a string of runner-up finishes for McIlroy this year. The four-time Major winner finished T2 in his first event of 2024, the Dubai Invitational, before one of the most devastating of his career, when a two-shot lead on the back nine of the final round of the US Open was relinquished to Bryson DeChambeau.

There have been wins too, at the Dubai Desert Classic, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship, although there’s no doubt McIlroy will sense he could have had more glory having come so close on several occasions.

Rory McIlroy reacts after losing the Irish Open to Rasmus Hojgaard

McIlroy's runner-up finish comes a week after he was T2 at the Irish Open

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite his latest frustration, he was determined to see the positives, and told Sky Sports shortly after his Wentworth performance that he’s excited for the future. He said: “To be able to work on my swing but still go out there and have a really good chance to win, I’m really proud of that.

“I’m excited for the future. I’m playing well, keep giving myself chances. Only two people have beaten me in the last two weeks. Happy with how I’m playing and just have to dust myself off and get ready for my last three events of the year.”

McIlroy, who was filmed being joined by wife Erica Stoll and the couple's daughter Poppy outside Wentworth soon after the final round, now has a week off to reflect on his BMW PGA Championship performance before he heads to Scotland for the first of those events, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, at the Old Course, St Andrews, which begins on 3 October.

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Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.