ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Rory McIlroy can end the season because the European tour’s prime 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 with a modified swing and never even trying on the flight of his pictures.
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He hasn’t appreciated the form of his swing for some time, he stated Wednesday, and wished a extra strong one that would maintain up in essentially the most pressure-filled moments following a lot of missed possibilities this season. Essentially 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 no main title.
“The one manner I used to be going to make a change, or not less than transfer in the fitting route, with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and never see the ball flight for a bit and simply focus solely 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 underneath 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 possibilities to win.”
McIlroy has received twice this yr, on the Dubai Desert Traditional and the Wells Fargo Championship, and has had 4 second-place finishes, together with just 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 one of the best 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 am 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 referred to as the Order of Benefit — would put McIlroy degree with the late Seve Ballesteros on the all-time record and solely two behind Colin Montgomerie, who has a file eight.
“I am a European participant,” McIlroy stated. “I want to go down as essentially 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 just a few extra Ryder Cups forward of me as effectively.
“In order that’s one thing that I want to [do]. I feel [it] is a aim that is fairly attainable over the following 10 years.”
