Rory McIlroy was always going to be the player most golf fans were looking out for at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, but that interest looked set to reach another level when he alluded to making some changes to his swing ahead of the event.
Like many, Rory McIlroy has taken several weeks off recently. But he is back in action this week at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – and it seems that he has been working intently on his swing while away from the course.
McIlroy suggested that he was not happy with his backswing in recent months. So there was set to be plenty of intrigue to see how he would fare in the opening round as thoughts largely start to turn towards the 2025 season.
And it was a promising start for McIlroy. The Northern Irishman made six birdies and one bogey on the way to opening up with a five-under par round of 67 around Yas Links. He was four shots off the lead at the time his opening round concluded.
How Rory McIlroy fared at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship amid swing changes
Speaking to Sky Sports (broadcast on 7/11; 10:51), McIlroy suggested that he was reasonably happy with his first 18 holes in a tournament since implementing the changes.
“It felt okay. I’ve sort of got comfortable with doing this little rehearsal before I take the club back. It felt fine. I probably wasn’t as imaginative out there, or I was hitting very straight shots and I didn’t really see the picture of what I was trying to do with the ball flight because I was thinking a little bit too much about what I was doing with the swing,” he said.
“Overall, I’m quite fortunate that it’s a nice week to come back because there’s not too much wind, it’s pretty wide off the tee so I feel like I can concentrate a little bit more on what I’m trying to do with the motion.”
Where McIlroy’s Race to Dubai rivals sit after the opening round
McIlroy boasts a commanding lead at the top of the Race to Dubai standings, with Yas Links hosting the penultimate event of the season.
He is playing alongside his two closest rivals in the standings in Thriston Lawrence and Rasmus Hojgaard, with both players knowing that they need a superb week to really close that gap.
It is finely poised, with Lawrence tied with McIlroy on five under par, while Hojgaard – who beat McIlroy at the Irish Open – is one ahead of the pair after shooting 66 on Thursday.
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