Rory McIlroy is looking to break Colin Montgomerie 's record of eight Harry Vardon Trophies, after the Northern Irishman added his fourth last Sunday. McIlroy rounded off a quite remarkable 2022, by being crowned the DP World Tour's top player in Dubai last weekend.
This followed up his FedEx Cup crown that he claimed in August, whilst he also became the world's No. 1 golfer last month. After dominating in the United States, the four-time major winner also ensured he became Europe's top golfer following a fourth place finish at the DP World Tour Championship.
McIlroy became the first player since Henrik Stenson in 2013 to win both the PGA and DP World Tour seasonal titles, and now he has his eyes on another record.
He told the BBC : "I know Monty won eight of these things [Harry Vardon Trophies]. Hopefully I can keep on the journey and try and get close to him."
Despite his seasonal double, McIlroy is conscious that it is becoming increasingly hard to win both the PGA and DP World Tour titles, with the standard of professional golf continuing to improve. As a result, this made his win on Sunday all the more special.
He went on: "It's becoming increasingly more difficult to win both season-long races. That's why I'm even more proud to do so this year. I'm played some really consistent golf.
"After the American season was done at the end of August, I really made it a priority to come back over to Europe and play and try and win the DP World Tour rankings and thankfully I was able to do that." As well as his two Tour titles, the four-time major winner also claimed three regular season events, whilst also finishing in the top 10 of all four major championships.
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A key component of his success has been his all-round consistency, and McIlroy highlighted this when speaking after his win last Sunday. "I think if my driving isn't there, then my putter bails me out," he revealed. "If my putter isn't there, my iron play bails me out.
"I feel like when you get to this level, it's like, okay, how can you make those incremental improvements to get better. I think my goal has been to just become a more complete golfer and I feel like I'm on the journey to doing that. But I definitely -- I'm as complete a golfer as I feel like I've ever been, and hopefully I can continue on that path."
