Rory McIlroy has escaped from the confines of the indoor studio which has been his go-to place of work in tinkering with his swing for the past month, with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links in the UAE not only offering the Northern Irishman an opportunity to see if those changes have yet factored into his game but also a chance to move closer towards creating a legacy as Europe’s best ever player.
The world No 3 sits – again – atop the DP World Tour order of merit and a win in Abu Dhabi would give him a sixth career Harry Vardon Trophy, joining the legendary Seve Ballesteros on that number in second on the all-time list and moving to just two off the record of eight won by Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie.
Catching Monty has been a long-time goal of McIlroy’s in terms of order of merit titles, but the other side of embellishing his legacy is in catching and overtaking the six career Majors won by Nick Faldo. McIlroy has been stuck on four for a full decade now, dating back to his US PGA Championship of 2014.
“I would like to go down as the most successful European of all time. Obviously Race to Dubai wins would count to that but also Major championships and hopefully I’ve got a few more Ryder Cups ahead of me as well. So, that’s something that I would like to [achieve]. I think is a goal that’s quite attainable over the next 10 years.
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“I’m very proud to be from Europe and have sort of, you know, played on this tour and played on this tour consistently. I just think of the greats of European golf that I grew up watching, whether it was Faldo or Woosie or Langer or just sort of the really heyday of the European Tour in the ‘90s, I guess.
“I remember when I got my first [European Tour] money clip just when I signed up to be a member and that was a really proud moment for me. That’s something that I’ve always been proud of and something I want to continue to do,” said McIlroy, who returns to tournament play for the first time in a month since teeing up at the Alfred Dunhill Links in Scotland.
For the past month, McIlroy has been using indoor studios at various locations to work on a swing aimed at eliminating pushing shots – driver and irons – to the right.
He explained: “I locked myself indoors in like a swing studio for three weeks and just hit balls into a blank screen or net and just focused on my swing and focused on the movement of my swing and focused on movement of my body patterns, I guess. I had a live feed on a TV in front of me of where the club was, and just sort of trying to get the reps in of making the motion that I want to make.
“I’ve done some work on my swing that I felt like I needed to do; still probably a ways to go. But it will be nice to test it out in competition and see how it holds up. It’s been a long year. I think this is my 26th event of the season. Next week [in Dubai] will be 27. So it was nice to have this little break coming into these events to I guess reinvigorate myself a little bit.”
McIlroy – who has three wins to his name this season, in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at the start of the European season and also in the Zurich Classic (with Shane Lowry) and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow on the PGA Tour – has a considerable lead over his nearest challengers in the order of merit: McIlroy is on 4,532 points with Thriston Lawrence on 2,959 and Rasmus Højgaard on 2,612.
“It’s nice to come here with motivation of trying to achieve something and give ... put all my efforts into the next two weeks, and then I can have a nice little break over the holiday period. If I go out and win this week, obviously you know, it makes it a bit boring next week, but I won’t find it boring; it will be lovely. All I can focus on is the task at hand and trying to play as well as I can,” said McIlroy.
Abu Dhabi Championship lowdown
Purse: €8.4 million (€1.43 million to the winner)
Where: Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
The course: Yas Links is located close by the Arabian Gulf. Designed by Kyle Phillips, it is a contrived links – 7,425 yards, par 72 – and wind off the gulf is usually a factor. There are eight holes located along the shoreline and the layout features in excess of 140 bunkers. Frenchman Victor Perez is the defending champion.
The field: Given its position as the penultimate event of the DP World Tour season – and the first of two playoff events, which finishes with next week’s Tour Championship finale in Dubai – the limited field of just 70 players has real star power, headed by world No 3 Rory McIlroy who is in a commanding position atop the Race to Dubai order of merit as he eyes a sixth career Harry Vardon Trophy win. McIlroy could seal the deal here before moving on to Dubai, with his nearest challengers Thriston Lawrence and Rasmus Højgaard some distance behind even allowing for the elevated points available.
Quote-Unquote: “I know Rory is a couple of points ahead but it’s not going to stop me to try and catch him. I know I’m good enough to win both events going into the final.” – a gung-ho Thriston Lawrence on seeking to catch McIlroy in the final sprint for the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Irish in the field: Tom McKibbin heads into the tournament on the bubble of attaining a PGA Tour card for 2024 through the pathway from the DP World Tour and will be looking for a strong showing ahead of the conclusion of that mini-ranking in Dubai. He plays alongside a pair of Danes in the opening two rounds, with Nicolai Højgaard and Thorbjørn Olesen making up his three-ball. Rory McIlroy is in a group with his two nearest challengers Lawrence and Rasmus Højgaard, while Shane Lowry couldn’t have got a better three-ball if he’d picked it himself, playing alongside Bob MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood.
Betting: McIlroy’s time away from competitive golf hasn’t impacted his position as market lead, a short-priced 9-2 to finally get his hands on the Abu Dhabi Championship where he has had a number of near-misses in the past. However, Fleetwood – who is a resident in Dubai – is worth a look at 8-1 while Matt Wallace has come into form of late and is well-priced at 25-1. In terms of each-way value, Jorge Campillo is worth a look at 45s.
On TV: On Sky Sports from 3.30am (Irish time).
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