Rory McIlroy has admitted that no one is currently close to the level of Open champion Scottie Scheffler.
The Northern Irishman finished seven behind champion Scheffler at Royal Portrush, with the American racking up his second Major title of the year after the PGA Championship, giving him his fourth win overall in a little over two months.
That means that, like 2024, Scheffler is now the talk of golf just three months after McIlroy claimed his third win of the year with the title he yearned for the most, The Masters, to complete his career Grand Slam.
McIlroy hasn’t won since, although his performance at Royal Portrush was a marked improvement on his last appearance at the venue for The Open, when he missed the cut in 2019. However, while he admitted being pleased with his display, he had plenty of praise for Scheffler, who won by four over Harris English.
He said: “Yeah, I think a lot more positive than they were six years ago. I mean, look, I'm really pleased with my week. I wish I had have been closer to Scottie going into today and been able to make a real push. But he's been on a different level all week and he's been on a different level for the last two years to the rest of us."
“He is the bar that we're all trying to get to at this point, so hats off to him. He's an unbelievable player, an incredible champion and a great person too. None of us could live with what he had this week, but for me to be in front of everyone here at home and to get that reception up the last, absolutely incredible. I'll remember that for a long time.”
He wasn't finished there, detailing exactly what it is that makes him so impressive. He said: "Admiration. I think all you can do is admire what he does and how he does it. I think what he does is one thing, but how he does it is another.
"He just goes about his business, doesn't do anything overly flamboyant, but he's the best at executing in the game right now. Yeah, he's been absolutely amazing over these past two to three years. As I said, all you can do is tip your cap and watch in admiration."
While McIlroy wasn’t able to threaten Scheffler during his final round of 69 on the way to placing T7, he had strong backing from his home crowd throughout the week, including on the final hole where he made a point of acknowledging the fans, and he admitted it had been a fulfilling week.
He added: “I tried as best as I could to keep my emotions in check, especially walking up the last there and that reception. Yeah, look, it's been an awesome week. I've gotten everything I wanted out of this week apart from a Claret Jug, and that's just because one person was just a little bit better than the rest of us.
"It's been an amazing week, just the - I feel so thankful and just so lucky that I get to do this, I get to do this in front of this crowd. Hopefully, I'll have one or two Opens left here, if the R&A decide to keep coming back, probably one while I'm still competitive and another one while I'm more gray than I already am. It's just been incredible to come back here and to play and at least feel like I had a chance today going out there. Just an awesome week.”
Despite falling short in his bid to claim his second Open title, McIlroy appears to have enjoyed the week more than any since winning The Masters, which surely bodes well for the challenges to come, next with the FedEx Cup Playoffs and in September with the Ryder Cup.
No doubt he’ll spend some time before those battles trying to unlock the secret to reaching the incredibly high bar Scheffler has set.
