Wayne Riley suggests what he’s noticed Rory McIlroy always does when he’s hitting his wedges well

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With the DP World Tour Championship now in the books, Rory McIlroy can really take stock of the state of his game ahead of the 2025 season.

Rory McIlroy won his sixth Order of Merit title on the DP World Tour on Sunday. Meanwhile, he also sealed his fourth win of the year at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. And there is no question that the Northern Irishman seized the initiative in the tournament with a superb spell early on on his front nine.

McIlroy responded to a bogey on the first with four straight birdies. It was a sublime showcase of his wedge game, which has come in for a lot of criticism in recent months.

McIlroy appears to be much less ruthless approaching the green than Scottie Scheffler. Meanwhile, some think McIlroy can be too aggressive at the wrong times. And it would appear that Wayne Riley has noticed when it is the problems tend to creep in.

What Rory McIlroy does when he hits his wedges well highlighted

During Sky Sports‘ coverage (broadcast on 17/11; 8:28), Riley suggested that McIlroy lands himself in more bother when he uses more reminiscent of his full swing with the shorter clubs in the bag.

“A couple of years ago, I did the Canadian Open in Toronto, and every shot with a wedge – he won that championship – with a wedge, he’d saw off the follow through,” he said.

“He plays bad shots when he swings the wedge like he swings a seven iron. When he flattens it out and saws off that follow through, tick-tock, tick-tock, he’s as good as it gets. Just like to see him flatten it out more often.”

How McIlroy’s approach game compares with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele

McIlroy is perhaps the best driver in the game. But he does clearly lose shots to the best players in the world when he is in the fairway and looking to set up birdie opportunities.

The four-time major champion ranks 54th on the PGA Tour for strokes gained with his approaches this season. Meanwhile, both Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele find themselves in the top 10.

McIlroy is also quite low down for putting, but he is actually ahead of the world number one. So it would definitely appear that that ability to convert A1 positions in the fairway into birdies is where McIlroy can struggle.