[11] McIlroy's first significant international victory came in the World Championship for the 9–10 age group bracket at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Florida.

[35] On 7 September 2008, McIlroy took a four-stroke lead into the final round of the Omega European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, but finished in a tie for first place with Frenchman Jean-François Lucquin and lost in a play-off.

Of the players to make the cut, McIlroy achieved the third-highest average driving distance, beaten only by Dustin Johnson and Andrés Romero.

[50] In the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, McIlroy beat Kevin Na 1-up in the first round and then lost on a playoff hole to Oliver Wilson.

[30] His final-hole birdie putt narrowly missed the hole to leave him one stroke out of the playoff between Bubba Watson and eventual winner Martin Kaymer.

He attributed the decision to having closer friends on the European Tour, his part in the Ryder Cup victory, and wanting to be nearer his girlfriend and family.

[61] On 7 April, McIlroy shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 65 in the first round of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia to take the lead after the first day of the four-day competition.

[73] At The Open Championship he struggled in tough weather over a difficult layout at Royal St George's Golf Club, failing to contend with the conditions.

[74] He was again a non-factor at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club after injuring his wrist on the 3rd hole of the first round after attempting to play a stroke from behind a tree root.

[77] McIlroy's first tournament of the year was at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship during the desert swing of the European Tour at the end of January.

The following week, McIlroy continued good form and won the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and with it claimed the Number 1 spot in the world rankings.

McIlroy shot a final round of 69 to claim his third PGA Tour title and finished two strokes ahead of Tiger Woods and Tom Gillis.

At the time, McIlroy's win at 22 years old made him the youngest multiple major champion since Seve Ballesteros won the 1980 Masters Tournament.

To finish off his season, he won the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, making birdie on the last five holes to beat Justin Rose by two strokes.

Struggling with an equipment change, having signed a large endorsement deal with Nike in January, he withdrew from the Honda Classic in February, and finished in two over par and in a tie for 25th place at the 2013 Masters Tournament.

[91] In January, McIlroy was hit with a two-shot penalty for not taking proper and full relief after driving onto a spectator pathway in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, his first event of the season.

He was alerted to his mistake by Scottish caddie Dave Renwick after his round and, after signing for a 70 instead of a 68 to reflect the penalty, he told reporters: "There are many stupid rules in golf and this is one of them."

[92] In March, McIlroy lost in a four-man sudden-death playoff at the Honda Classic on the PGA Tour, despite leading the tournament through all four rounds until the back nine on Sunday.

[101] This was his second World Golf Championship, in the process becoming only the third player behind Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus to win 10 PGA tour events and four majors by the age of 25.

[112] Chasing his first win of the year, McIlroy took a three-shot lead into the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, but faltered with a two-over-par 74 to finish two shots behind winner Adam Scott.

[113] At the 2016 Masters, McIlroy was in the final group in the third round alongside Jordan Spieth but faltered to a birdie-free five-over-par 77 and followed that up with a one-under-par 71 on Sunday to finish T10.

He was hampered throughout the season by a rib injury first sustained at the BMW SA Open in January,[120] where he lost out on the title in a playoff to Graeme Storm, and played a limited schedule as a result.

On 17 May 2020, McIlroy, alongside Dustin Johnson, secured a win in a charity skins game played under the nearest-the-pin shot rule, as golf returned to television after nine weeks.

[137] In January, McIlroy was in contention to win the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic for the third time in his career but hit his second shot into the water on the final hole and missed out on a playoff for the title by one stroke.

In June, McIlroy successfully defended his title at the RBC Canadian Open, shooting a final-round 62 to win by two shots ahead of Tony Finau.

[140] On 28 August, McIlroy won his third Tour Championship, by one stroke from Scottie Scheffler and Im Sung-jae, to claim his third FedEx Cup victory, surpassing Tiger Woods's two, and earn an additional $18 million bonus.

[149] In September 2023, McIlroy played on the European team in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia, Rome, Italy.

[161] In his first PGA Tour event of 2025, McIlroy won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finishing with a score of −21, beating Shane Lowry by two strokes.

[194] In December 2012, McIlroy purchased a $10-million property in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, located close to Jack Nicklaus' The Bear's Club.

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play NT = no tournament "T" = tied Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.