Rory McIlroy looks to be on the cusp of winning the Harry Vardon Trophy for the sixth time in his career this season, as the Northern Irishman prepares for the penultimate event of the DP World Tour calendar at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Rory McIlroy has a commanding lead at the top of the standings. It has been a mixed year for McIlroy, with three wins coming worldwide – including one at the Dubai Desert Classic at the very start of the season.
However, it has obviously not been a perfect season for the 35-year-old. McIlroy was not much of a factor at three of the majors, while he made three bogeys in his final four holes to lose at the US Open back in June. And he was not in contention at The Tour Championship.
He has given himself plenty of opportunities for more wins this year. But getting across the line in some of the biggest events has been difficult, and it seems that the four-time major champion would largely put that down to some problems with his swing.
Rory McIlroy opens up on swing changes he has tried to make in recent weeks
McIlroy noted at the BMW PGA Championship that he had been trying to make some small changes to his swing. And it seems that some time away has allowed him to make some significant progress.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, McIlroy suggested that being able to solely focus on his swing has been so important as he looks to get back to his very best.
“Yeah, I probably haven’t liked the shape of my golf swing for a while, especially the backswing. The only way I was going to make a change or at least move in the right direction with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and not see the ball flight for a bit and just focus entirely on the movement,” he said.
“So did that for three weeks after the Dunhill. Started to get outside and hit some shots last week and see how it is. I’m terrible at if I’m trying to make a certain swing or a certain swing change, and I start to mis-strike it or not hit the shots that I want, I’ll just revert back to what I was doing because it’s comfortable.
“I think doing this in the studio it was a big key for me to just try to make a start on getting the swing back to where I want it to be. But it’s an ongoing process, as you know, to get out here and play. When there’s sequences to the shots that you hit, you’re always going to revert back to what’s comfortable. Hopefully the more that I do over these next few months, it will bed in and get back to the shape I want to be in.”
The events McIlroy is set to feature in before the end of 2024
McIlroy is set to get more time to work on his game after the next couple of weeks. Of course, he is in the Middle East for the conclusion of the DP World Tour season and will also play at the DP World Tour Championship next week.
He is also in line to play alongside Scottie Scheffler in an exhibition match against Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in Las Vegas in December.
McIlroy has however, not been named in the field for the Hero World Challenge. And while there is time for further names to be added to the limited-field event, it does appear that he would have been included already if he was likely to feature.
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