Rory McIlroy can end the season as the European Tour's best player for the sixth time by winning the Abu Dhabi Championship this week.
He will attempt to do so with a new swing.
McIlroy, the world No. 3, said he locked himself in a studio — first in Florida, then in New York — for three weeks, just hitting balls on a screen with a modified swing, without even watch the trajectory of his shots.
He hadn't liked his swing for some time, he said Wednesday, and he wanted a more robust swing that could hold up in the tensest moments after a number of missed opportunities this season. The most notable was at the US Open in June, where he missed two putts from 3 feet in the final three holes on Sunday, paving the way for Bryson DeChambeau's victory and extending McIlroy's decade without a major title .
“The only way for me to change my swing, or at least move in the right direction, was to lock myself in a studio, not see the flight of the ball for a while and concentrate entirely on the movement,” McIlroy said.
“It’s something,” he added, “just to make my swing more efficient, and if it’s more efficient, that means it’s not going to collapse under pressure as much.” If I look back at my year, the only thing I would blame myself for is having those chances to win. »
McIlroy has won twice this year, at the Dubai Desert Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship, and has finished second four times, including at the Irish Open and the BMW European PGA Tour Championship.
These results are certainly frustrating for McIlroy, but he is well placed in the “Race to Dubai” rankings, which determine the best player of the year on the European circuit. A victory in Abu Dhabi can seal the title and remove the suspense, at least for McIlroy, from the final event of the season, the World Tour Championship which takes place in Dubai next week.
“If I win this week, it will make next week a little more boring,” said the four-time Major winner. “But I won’t find it boring. It will be lovely.”
A sixth title at the 'Race to Dubai' – formerly called the Order of Merit – would place McIlroy tied with the late Seve Ballesteros on the all-time list and just two points behind Colin Montgomerie, who has one eight, a record.
“I am a European player. I would like to go down in history as the most successful European of all time. Obviously Race to Dubai wins would count towards that, but so would major championships and hopefully a few more Ryder Cups.
“So that’s something I’d like to do.” I think this is a very achievable goal over the next ten years. »
