Rory McIlroy's 2017/18 Season Review

Over the past few weeks, Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy has been reflecting on his performances on both sides of the Atlantic over the past twelve months and setting a collection of lofty targets for 2019.

Now that both the 2017/18 PGA Tour and European Tour schedules are in the rearview mirror, it seems a good time to reflect on the fortunes of former world number one and four-time major champion.

Check out our review of Rory McIlroy's 2018 below...

Rory's Self-Evaluation

At the pre-tournament press conference of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai just a fortnight past, McIlroy was asked to assess his last year in golf.

The current world number seven, keen not to dwell on the negatives, quickly gave himself a B- for his collective performances on Tour and seemed very confident that a first win on the European Tour since the 2016 Irish Open was just around the corner.

Rory McIlroy assesses his season 📝#DPWTC #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/OcQ0y5mq3Q

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 13, 2018

Win At Bay Hill

In what amounted to his solitary win on both of the main Tours, McIlroy took the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Country Club finishing three shots clear of the up-and-coming American, Bryson DeChambeau.

An impressive final 18-hole score of 64 was the joint low round of the week, matched only by 2016 Open Champion Henrik Stenson's Thursday score. The win would be perfect preparation for McIlroy in the lead-up to The Masters just three weeks later.

A Season Of Near Misses

It would be true to say that McIlroy was only another win or two away from what could be reflected back upon as a truly impressive season, and he came close to the winner's circle on a number of other occasions.

After a second position at the Dubai Desert Classic in January on the European Tour, two near misses in major championships came at both Augusta National where he would finish in sole fifth position, and when settling for a four-way tie for second at Carnoustie's 147th Open Championship behind Francesco Molinari.

This was the second time in two months McIlroy had finished runner-up to the Italian after missing out at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth back in May.

'Ho-Hum' Ryder Cup Points Haul

Of course, all that matters when we reflect upon the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National (for Europeans anyway) is that Team Europe wrestled the Ryder Cup back from American clutches, but the Northern Irishman will likely be underwhelmed with his own level of play and final points haul.

Being Europe's true stellar name, he could manage only two points from a possible five on offer through the three days in Paris. Friday afternoon foursomes with 'The Postman' Ian Poulter and Saturday morning fourballs with 2017 Masters champ Sergio Garcia helped garner two important points for Thomas Bjorn's 'boys-in-blue'.

McIlroy was unlucky in his singles match against Justin Thomas when he found a poor spot in a fairway bunker on the 18th hole...

What's Ahead For 2019

Getting back to major-winning form is a firm focus for 2019, so much so that McIlroy is planning to spend plenty of his time on the courses of the PGA Tour in a quest to be tournament-ready for the three majors in the U.S. which all fall back-to-back in 2019.

Immediate concerns arose just last week when McIlroy announced that he would only be committing to two European events next year - a position that would place his European Tour membership under threat.

With his hosting duties of the Irish Open now passed to former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, at this moment in time, he looks set to miss his national event. Time will tell whether this stance changes.

How do you rate Rory's season? Can he complete the career grand slam? Let us know below.

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