Rory McIlroy reaped the rewards for his hard work behind closed doors to fix his golf swing, winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday to finish the season on a high
Rory McIlroy’s decision to “lock himself in a studio” and practice his golf swing without a simulator has paid off, with his game looking in fine shape heading into next season.
McIlroy took an extended break after narrowly losing out to Billy Horschel in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in September, with the American snatching victory on the second playoff hole with a stunning eagle.
The result in Surrey continued a season of acute frustration. McIlroy had won three times by that point, but huge opportunities to win the US Open, Irish Open and the BMW PGA passed him by, with his swing failing him in the pressure moments.
But after spending several weeks working behind closed doors, hitting countless balls into a blank screen as he tried to implement a swing change, McIlroy is reaping the rewards. The Ulsterman finished in a share of third place at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last week before ending a six-month wait for a win at the DP World Tour Championship on Sunday.
The 35-year-old won at 15-under-par at the Earth Course, two shots clear of Rasmus Hojgaard – the man who broke his heart with a late surge at Royal County Down in September. And there were times when McIlroy looked like he might suffer yet another painful Sunday, with a series of putts failing to fall early in the back nine.
This time, however, McIlroy’s swing stayed true as the pressure grew. A magnificent wedge into the 16th set up a tap-in birdie to pull one shot ahead of Hojgaard, and he was error-free over the final two holes, putting the seal on his victory with a smartly made birdie at the last.
Last week, McIlroy went into detail about the work he had been doing on his swing, saying he wanted to see no feedback on the simulator screen so the process was not clouded by short-term results.
“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. “I’m terrible if I’m trying to make a certain swing or change and I start to miss-strike it or not hit the shots I want to hit. I’ll just revert back to what I was doing because it’s comfortable.
“I think doing this in the studio was a big key for me to just try to start getting the swing back to where I want it to be. It’s something just to make my golf swing more efficient,” he said, “and if it’s more efficient, then it means it’s not going to break down as much under pressure.”
With McIlroy returning to something close to peak form – and with what seems to be a more trustworthy swing – he has every reason to fancy his chances of ending his 10-year major drought when he arrives at the Masters in April.
Going back to basics and making a significant change to his swing was a gamble considering he has been very competitive throughout 2024. It was no sure thing that it would pay off, but it has – and quickly.
