“My goal always was to become a better golfer.” – stated 25-year-old Rory McIlroy in October 2014 after a successful year including two major wins. And, become one he did! From emerging victorious 24 times on the PGA Tour to becoming its most valuable player in 2023, there is little that he hasn’t been able to win, or would achieve in the future. However, it seems that notion was blasted away by an ex-LIV Golf pro.

The Spanish professional went ahead to talk about the 34-year-old in an interview a little while back. But, while doing so, he made sure to reveal a surprising fact about the Northern Irishman, all the while pleasingly alluding to how he himself has won a certain trophy that the current world No.2 “cannot win in his career!”

DP World Tour Pro’s one-up over Rory McIlroy

After turning pro in 2004, Pablo Larrazabal played his rookie season on the European Tour in 2008. However, joining him was none other than McIlroy who won his first tour card for the same year after turning professional in 2007. Surprisingly, the former had much to say about the 24X PGA Tour champ in a podcast.

In an episode of Flushing It Golf, the 40-year-old went ahead to point out how despite winning so many events along with the huge amount of money, “there is one trophy that Rory McIlroy cannot win in his career.” What is it, you ask? The Spaniard divulged how the 4X major champ was unable to win the Sir Henry Cotton “Rookie of the Year” award which Larrazabal won in 2008 in his debut season on tour.

Adding on, the athlete who played just once on LIV Golf in its debut event, hilariously recalled the time when he asked the Northern Irishman if he would “give me(sic) a couple of million for my rookie of the year.” What did McIlroy say? Well, he did not take the friendly jab standing as he also humorously poked back by replying, “No, no, no, but I will give you a couple of titles here and there,” while alluding to his many wins. Regardless of the friendly bickering, the 2023 KLM Open champ also expressed how “proud” he is of the 2008 award he won over his European colleague.

Nevertheless, McIlroy hasn’t managed to let the loss that took place 15 years ago get into his head as he has striven very hard throughout his career to become a better golfer. Moreover, the 34-year-old has since then managed to bag many other accolades over his 16-year-long career, especially in the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour awards won by Rory McIlroy

McIlroy won his first PGA Tour event in 2010 at the Quail Hollow Championship. But, he won his first set of awards from the men’s circuit in 2012 when the professional bagged the Byron Nelson Award for a scoring average of 68.87 and the Jack Nicklaus Award for PGA Tour Player of the Year. The athlete had managed to win four times during the season including his second major at the PGA Championship.

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Did he stop there? It’s a big ‘NO’ since the Northern Irishman went ahead to win the former award three more times in 2014, 2019, and 2022. Meanwhile, he landed the latter two more times in 2014, followed by 2019. Well, these accolades do paint the pro as a better golfer. A wish come true for Rory McIlroy!

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