ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Rory McIlroy can end the season because the European tour’s high participant for the sixth time with a win on the Abu Dhabi Championship this week.
He’ll try to take action with a brand new swing.
The No. 3-ranked McIlroy stated he has been hunkered down in a studio — first in Florida, then in New York — for 3 weeks, simply hitting balls at a display screen with a modified swing and never even wanting on the flight of his photographs.
He hasn’t favored the form of his swing for some time, he stated Wednesday, and needed a extra strong one that might maintain up in probably the most pressure-filled moments following quite a few missed probabilities this season. Probably the most notable was on the U.S. Open in June, the place he missed two putts within the 3-foot vary within the closing three holes on Sunday to pave the best way for Bryson DeChambeau‘s victory and prolong McIlroy’s decade with out a main title.
“The one approach I used to be going to make a change, or not less than transfer in the proper route, with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and never see the ball flight for a bit and simply focus fully on the motion,” McIlroy stated.
“It is one thing,” he added, “simply to make my golf swing extra environment friendly, after which whether it is extra environment friendly, then it means it is not going to interrupt down as a lot below stress. If I take a look at my yr, the one factor that I might criticize myself on is the truth that I’ve had these probabilities to win.”
McIlroy has gained twice this yr, on the Dubai Desert Basic and the Wells Fargo Championship, and has had 4 second-place finishes, together with lately on the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship on the European tour.
That has left the Northern Irishman pissed off however effectively clear within the Race to Dubai rankings that decide the perfect participant of the yr on the European tour. A win in Abu Dhabi can seal the title and take away some suspense, not less than for McIlroy, from the ultimate occasion of the season, the World Tour Championship in close by Dubai subsequent week.
“If I’m going out and win this week, clearly you realize, it makes it a bit boring subsequent week,” the four-time main champion stated. “However I will not discover it boring. Will probably be pretty.”
A sixth Race to Dubai title — it was once known as the Order of Benefit — would put McIlroy stage with the late Seve Ballesteros on the all-time checklist and solely two behind Colin Montgomerie, who has a file eight.
“I am a European participant,” McIlroy stated. “I want to go down as probably the most profitable European of all time. Clearly Race to Dubai wins would rely to that but additionally main championships and hopefully I’ve bought a couple of extra Ryder Cups forward of me as effectively.
“In order that’s one thing that I want to [do]. I believe [it] is a purpose that is fairly attainable over the subsequent 10 years.”
