It is hard to look at a golfer who has won four times worldwide in 2024 and question their return for the season, but that is the reality Rory McIlroy often faces after another major-less campaign.
This is a player who won twice on the DP World Tour and earned a sixth Race to Dubai title this season, pulling him level with Seve Ballesteros' all-time tally, with McIlroy also winning twice on the PGA Tour this year.
There were nine other worldwide top-10s during a consistent year, with the heart-breaking near-miss at the US Open one of four runner-up finishes, while McIlroy's life - on and off the course - has come under scrutiny during a season where he acknowledged he has "been through a lot".
McIlroy's season-after-season consistency has made him a stalwart in the world's 10 for the majority of the last 15 years, yet it is often reminders of the disappointments - rather than the successes - that are thrown his direction from golf fans and media alike.
Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports ahead of "Rory McIlroy: Expectation", a new documentary available from Sunday December 8, the Northern Irishman said: "I'm hard on myself, but at the same time, I try very hard to focus on the positives and move forward. Learn from my mistakes and then move on, because that's all you can do in any walk of life.
"I think what the hard thing is in my position is your disappointments and your mistakes keep getting brought up to you every time that you get in front of a camera or you're in a press conference or answering questions. That's the tough part of this gig.
"At the same time, I am in a very fortunate position that this is what I get to do for a living. If I have to deal with what people deem are unfair expectations or are held to a higher standard than others, then so be it.
"I feel like that's a very privileged position to be in. I'd much rather have it this way than if people didn't really care about what I was doing on the golf course."
Rory McIlroy won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championship on the DP World Tour, while he partnered Shane Lowry to team victory on the PGA Tour at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans before securing the Wells Fargo Championship in his next start.
There were also runner-up finishes at the Dubai Invitational, Amgen Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship during 2024, although the one living longest in the memory is letting US Open victory and a first major title in a decade slip through his grasp.
McIlroy held a two-shot lead heading into the closing holes at Pinehurst No 2, only to bogey three of his final hour holes - including two missed putts from inside four feet - to see Bryson DeChambeau claim a one-shot victory.
"It's hard because on one hand, I sit here and I'm proud of what I've done this year, but then on the other hand I sit here and I am disappointed because of the ones I've let get away," McIlroy admitted.
"I'd say it was a combination of everything. I wouldn't say it's specifically the putts. I wouldn't say it's specifically the club choices - I think it's a combination.
"The putt on 16 was probably the one that I'll look back on most that I'll regret. But I think if I had made par on 15, do I miss that putt on 16? Also, with the last few holes and with the way Pinehurst flows, I was waiting for Bryson to hit his shots.
"You're very aware of what's happening behind you and I needed to do a better job of trying to block that out and I didn't. It's hard enough just having to concentrate on yourself and focus on what you're doing.
"Whenever your attention is taken away by focusing and looking at what your competitor does, it makes it even more difficult."
McIlroy's major drought extends into an 11th year, which would equal the biggest gap between major victories in men's golf, although there are courses on the 2025 schedule that will give him encouragement to end his winless streak.
He has seven career top-10s at The Masters, including a runner-up finish at Augusta National in 2022, while he is a four-time winner of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club - the venue for the 2025 PGA Championship.
The Northern Irishman will head to Oakmont having ended no worse than ninth in each of his last six US Open appearances, before a return to Royal Portrush for The Open to play a course where he missed the cut in 2019 but previously held a course record as a teenager.
"I love that we're playing the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in May, which is typically when we played the Wells Fargo," McIlroy said. "It's when I know the golf course the best and sort of I know that it's going to play, you know, the characteristics.
"I can't wait to go back to Portrush, because I feel like I've got some unfinished business there from last time, and we'll obviously go back to Augusta for The Masters.
"I think the one thing that probably won't get enough credit, because I've not won the US Open, is that I feel like I've become such a such a better player at US Open venues.
"So 2016, when we last played at Oakmont, where the US Open is, I missed the cut. I missed the cut in 2017 at the US Open and I missed the cut of 2018 in the US Open, but since then I've made a real effort to try to change what I did and how I approached playing that championship.
"From 2019 all the way through to this year in 2024, I feel like I've had a chance to win the US Open every Sunday that I've played there since, so I'm really proud of that. I'm looking forward to going back to a golf course that I struggled at before to see if I can figure it out."
Watch "Rory McIlroy: Expectation", a special new documentary reflecting on his 2024 season, from December 8 on Sky Sports. McIlroy will be back in action in January, with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour exclusive live on Sky Sports Golf.
