ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Rory McIlroy can finish the season as the top player on the European Tour for the sixth time by winning this week's Abu Dhabi Championship.
He'll try it with a new swing.
McIlroy, ranked No. 3 in the world, said he holed up in a studio for three weeks, first in Florida and then in New York, only hitting balls at screens with modified swings and not even watching his shots fly. .
He said Wednesday that he didn't like the shape of his swing for a while and wanted a sturdier swing that could withstand even the most pressured moments after a number of missed opportunities this season.
Most notably at the U.S. Open in June, he missed two 3-foot putts in the final three holes on Sunday, paving the way for Bryson DeChambeau's victory and ending McIlroy's decade without a major title. was extended.
“The only way to make a change in my swing, or at least move in the right direction, was to lock myself in the studio and not watch the ball flight for a little bit and just focus completely on the movement,” McIlroy said.
“This is about making my golf swing more efficient, and being more efficient means my swing doesn’t break down as much under pressure. , what I like to criticize myself for is the fact that I had a chance to win.”
McIlroy has won twice this year, at the Dubai Desert Classic and Wells Fargo Championship, and has finished runner-up four times, including most recently at the European Tour's Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship.
That leaves the Northern Irishman frustrated, but he remains firmly at the top of the Race to Dubai rankings, which determines the European Tour's player of the year. A win in Abu Dhabi would clinch the title and at least remove some uncertainty for McIlroy from the season finale at the World Tour Championship in Dubai near next week.
“If you go out there and win this week, obviously next week is going to be a little boring,” the four-time major champion said. “But I don't think it'll be boring. It'll be nice.”
Winning his sixth Race to Dubai title (formerly known as the Order of Merit) would put McIlroy on par with the late Seve Ballesteros for the all-time record and behind only Colin Montgomerie with eight. It will be close to two.
“I'm a European player,” McIlroy said. “I want to go down as the most successful European of all time. Of course winning the Race to Dubai would count towards that, but so would the major championships and hopefully a few more. I hope we can win the Ryder Cup as well.
“So that's what I want to do. I think it's a pretty achievable goal over the next 10 years.”
