Rory McIlroy‘s loss at the 2024 Dubai Invitational is not without precedence. The Northern Irishman, in his run of 17 years as a pro, has countered many great moments but has also come across a few disappointing ones as well. With a total of 46 wins under his belt on different Tours, the Irish golfer has also had some close calls. It is safe to say that the curse of almost always being the next best man is truly all-pervasive, in the 34-year-old’s unique case.

Even after giving his all to golf over the years and rising as one of the most powerful stars the game has witnessed, McIlroy surely has a bag full of things he could’ve done differently to potentially achieve greater results. Standing atop the mountain of his career’s countless achievements, McIlroy is the guy who could have it all. But something or the other mostly goes wrong at the very last deciding moment, making his decadent performances a complex tragedy.

Rory McIlroy is mostly the next-best man on the greens

The number 2 seems to be unshakeable from McIlroy’s destiny. This is evident in his years of having a great start at important tournaments and getting into contention for the title but eventually fumbling the bag in some way or another. This results in the 4X major winner more often than not ending up as the runner-up, not the winner.

Take, for example, his luck at the Masters in the 2021-2022 season and 2023 US Open, where he finished in 2nd place. Like a sweet but still uninvited guest, the number 2 just doesn’t seem to get out of McIlroy’s record.

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It’s not just the recent history of the Majors that stands against McIlroy’s becoming the best player many times at these very important events, but turning back the pages since the start of his professional career in 2007 will reveal a similar saga. Out of the 59 majors that McIlroy has played to date, he has 17 top-5 and 30 top-10 finishes, in total. Adding to his four major wins from almost more than a decade ago, the famous pro has three second-place finishes and four third-place finishes.

The famous Northern Irishman stood tied for 2nd place back at the Open Championship in 2017-18 and tied for third place in the 2021-2022 season as well as in 2010. He also had two third-place finishes at the PGA Championship in 2009 and 2010, respectively. His most recent runner-up finish was at the 2023 U.S. Open.

His luck at Augusta has been the most baffling. Out of his four major wins to date, not even one has been a Masters event. He has a total of 4 top-5 finishes at the Masters and 7 top-10 finishes so far. Despite coming drastically close to adding a Masters win to his track record several times, McIlroy’s efforts have more than often not let him taste the sweetness of victory.

All in all, McIlroy has been a runner-up around 24 times in the past. Seeing victory up close but not being able to relish it must be infuriating for anyone, but McIlroy’s strong determination and a desperate need to better himself roots all his borderline infuriating half-accomplishments as learning stones. But despite all his efforts, what part of the year is the hardest for the highly-loved star?

What is the hardest time of the season for the 34-year-old’s destiny?

They say that the new year brings with it an insurmountable number of possibilities. However, even after making his hardest attempts over the last few years, McIlroy has not been able to emerge victorious at year-opening events. This is what makes New Year’s a time when the burden of his fate is the heaviest of all.

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The famous pro has finished in the top 5 on the leaderboard in 15 of the season-opening events in the last 16 years, including 2024. But he has accrued only one win at the start of the season in all these years, in 2023 at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic, where he will also be seen playing next.

That is truly an unexpected number considering the shockingly high number of times McIlroy’s astonishing attempts did not fetch him a win. Even after consistent efforts, McIlroy’s single-year-opening win surely comes as a shocker to his fans.

As the famous pro loses at changing the start of the year curse at the 2024 Dubai Invitational, there are still chances that he will change the pages of history with his never-give-up attitude in the coming days, despite all odds.

What do you think of this interesting little fact from Rory McIlroy’s glorious career? Share your views in the comments section below!

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