Rory McIlroy's impressive consistency revealed in stat, yet Tiger Woods' legacy casts a larger shadow

For almost two decades, Rory McIlroy has been at the top of the sport of golf. He may be experiencing a Major championship drought, but don't let that distract from what has been an absolutely incredible career. The Irishman recently took home a victory that followed a second-place finish, which is obviously the two best placements one can have.

That prompted a seemingly impossible stat to make the rounds on the internet. In 395 worldwide starts during his 19 years, the golfer has more top-two finishes (65) than he has missed cuts (58). He's more likely to finish among the top two than to miss the cut in any given tournament.

McIlroy could have a bad week that still leaves him with a terrific performance. He would have to experience a career-worst outing to risk missing the cut, something he just doesn't do very often. He's remarkably consistent and has been for what feels like forever.

Even in the Major tournaments, which McIlroy hasn't won since he took the 2014 Open Championship and 2014 PGA Championship trophies, he has finished in the top-ten more than every other golfer over the last ten years.

He nearly ended that drought in 2023 with a sterling performance at the US Open, but he fell by a single stroke to Wyndham Clark after breaking even on the fourth round. Despite that heartbreaking loss, it is just another example of how good McIlroy is.

One of the best golfers of a generation has the resume to prove that he's also one of the best to ever pick up a club in this sport's rich history. Unfortunately, as great as McIlroy truly is, he still lives in one player's shadow: Tiger Woods.

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Tiger Woods still overshadows Rory McIlroy

As that impressive stat for Rory McIlroy made the rounds, it was hard to believe. McIlroy certainly isn't infallible, so to think that he could finish second or better more often than missing the cut is difficult to comprehend.

However, that stat is still going to sound realistic when compared to Tiger Woods' performances. Woods has finished in the top two 132 times in 424 events, missing the cut only 32 times. It was impressive that McIlroy had more top finishes than cuts missed. Woods has 100 more of the same thing.

Woods has won the Majors more times than he's missed the cut in them. He remarkably made the cut before withdrawing due to injury at The Masters in 2023, and his 15 major titles are more than his missed cuts in the same events.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are historically good

From February 1998 until May 2005, Woods made every single cut for every single start. He didn't win them all, but he was in the final round every single time for over seven years.

Even as historically good as McIlroy has been, there's just no one that truly compares to Woods. The PGA Tour star is one of one and everyone else is second or worse.