A Look at the Impeccable Beginning of the Year Record Owned By Rory McIlroy

Published 01/18/2022, 4:30 PM EST

There has never been a moment when the world has doubted Rory McIlroy’s greatness. He may have hit a serious all-time low for a couple of months just after touching the sky, but we were always sure he would make a comeback. And well, he did! Notably, he has always started out his year in style, something most athletes yearn for. And to prove that, we have just the perfect data.

As McIlroy prepares to kick off his season at DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, Golf Digest took it upon themselves to compile information from his first starts of the year to speculate what we could witness. And surprisingly, he has a pretty immaculate record to boast of! Meanwhile, despite his spectacular performances, one can even call it a curse, to always rank high on the leaderboard, yet miss snagging the title by a whisker.

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Rory McIlroy maintains a year-beginning streak

The Arabian peninsula hosts the first event of the DP World Tour calendar (formerly known as the European Tour). In his ten starts here, he has finished in the top-5 a stunning nine times. Moreover, Rory has played- and lost- in the playoff four times! However, his record comes with the exception of one start; in 2013, when he surprisingly failed to make the cut! This was also a year after his breakthrough in global golf that he did not win a title, neither on the PGA nor European tour.

Let’s take a look at his impeccable record-

2009 Abu Dhabi Championship- T-5

2010 Abu Dhabi Championship- 3rd

2011 Abu Dhabi Championship- 2nd

2012 Abu Dhabi Championship- 2nd

2013 Abu Dhabi Championship- MC

2014 Abu Dhabi Championship- T-2

2015 Abu Dhabi Championship- 2nd

2016 Abu Dhabi Championship- T-3

2017 South African Open- 2nd

2018 Abu Dhabi Championship- T-3

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2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions- T-4

2020 Farmers Insurance Open- T-3

2021 Abu Dhabi Championship- 3rd

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Yas Links Abu Dhabi will host this year’s edition from January 20-23 and an $8,000,000 purse is up for stakes. Do you think Rory can maintain his streak while also breaking the curse to emerge victorious? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Ishita Bhargava is a Golf content writer at Essentially Sports. Currently pursuing her undergraduate degree from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, she has a keen interest in sports and fitness. When not playing or watching a sports event, Ishita can be seen spending time with her pets or binge-watching.

A Look at the Impeccable Beginning of the Year Record Owned By Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy maintains a year-beginning streak

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