Rory McIlroy given food for thought as Tommy Fleetwood speaks out after harsh comments

Tommy Fleetwood has spoke up for after the Northern Irishman's self-critique over his own 'poor' performance. McIlroy is widely regarded as one of the best of his generation, but the 35-year-old has now gone 10 years without winning a major title.

He did, however, finish second at this year's US Open, narrowly missing out in top spot to after in the closing stages. ahead of this week's season-ending event in Dubai, McIlroy admitted technical inconsistencies have cost him dearly, and even scuppered his chances of ending his decade-long wait for a major championship.

"If I look at my year, the one thing that I would criticise myself on is the fact that I've had these chances to win," he told reporters. "But then when I've had these chances to win, okay, some may have been because of the putter, but others have been because of my ball-striking, which let me down as a crucial point. I think just trying to clean all that up so that whenever I do get under that pressure, you know, I can have a hundred per cent trust in my swing and know what's going to happen."

Reacting to his team-mate's admission, 33-year-old Fleetwood asserted that McIlroy has, in reality, had a remarkable year, and highlighted how he consistently found himself in the mix at the business end of the tournaments he entered. "I think Rory has had a great year," he said.

"Of course, 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.

"He's shown amazing consistency: So close to winning a major; so close to winning a bunch of events while winning a few at the same time. You know, it's obviously not over yet but he's in with a very good chance and he has a chance of winning another Race to Dubai title.

"Of course, Rory is held to a higher standard than pretty much everybody else in the world of golf. But 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."

McIlroy's form may not be as strong as it was in the early 2010s, when he won all four of his majors, but he has been inching ever-closer to a fifth triumph in recent years. He finished runner-up at in 2022, and repeated this feat at the US Open in both 2023 and 2024. For contrast, between 2015 and 2021 he only managed one top-three finish at a major event.

The World No.3 currently holds a commanding lead atop the DP World Tour Rankings as he closes in on a third consecutive Race to Dubai title, and sixth overall. Colin Montgomerie holds the record with eight titles, and McIlroy has admitted he wants to knock 'Monty' off the top by clinching nine.

"I pride myself [on being] a European player," he said at a press conference earlier this month. "I would like to go down as the most successful European of all time. Obviously Race to Dubai wins would count to that but also major championships and hopefully I've got a few more Ryder Cups ahead of me as well."

He continued: "So that's something that I would like to, I think is a goal that's quite attainable over the next 10 years. I'm very proud to be from Europe and have played on this tour and played on this tour consistently.

"It's something that I'm very proud of and I just think of the greats of European golf that I grew up watching, whether it was Faldo or [Ian Woosnam] or [Bernhard] Langer or just sort of the heyday of the European Tour in the '90s, I guess.

"I remember when I got my... not even my European Tour card. I remember when I got my first money clip just when I signed up to be a member and that was a really proud moment for me. That's something that I've always been proud of and something I want to continue to do."