The Northern Irish golfer was beaten in a play-off by Billy Horschel at Wentworth on Sunday (22.09.24) to narrowly miss out on winning a tournament for the second weekend in succession but he is doing his best to take the positives from his runner-up finishes.

McIlroy - who squandered a four-shot lead at the Irish Open last weekend - said: "Last week was a tough one but I left there with my head held high with the way I played the last hole trying to make three.

"Two weeks in a row I've played well. Just not quite well enough. The game is testing me a little more than it has done in the past, but that's fine."

The world number three was pleased with how he played at the event and suggested that his failure to win was down to the impressive quality of the field.

McIlroy said: "If someone had of said you're going to turn up at Wentworth this week and shoot 20 under par, I'd take that - all I can do is keep showing up and trying to play the golf that I've been playing and sooner or later it's going to end up in a win.

"And today I played the play-off holes perfectly, really, a couple of birdies. But it just shows the standard out here. If you slip up just a little bit or don't make a birdie on a crucial hole, someone is always waiting to take advantage of that."

McIlroy was also a runner-up at the US Open in the summer and is hoping to make up for his near-misses next year.

He said: "It could have been a different year but the nice thing is there's next year and the year after and the year after and the year after.

"If you think of my career as a 30-year journey, it's only one year in a 30-year journey, and hopefully the other 29 are a little more productive or a little bit better."