Rory McIlroy’s making some big changes to his swing, but you wouldn’t know it from his solid 5-under 67 at Thursday’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The world No. 3 has been doing something pretty unusual lately. He spent three weeks hitting balls into a simulator, not even able to see where they were going. Talk about trust in the process.
Name
Events
Top 10
Money
Rory McIlroy
257
125
$90,989,348
“It felt OK,” McIlroy said after his round. He wasn’t trying to get too fancy out there – just focusing on getting his new swing mechanics right.
The conditions were perfect for scoring at Yas Links. McIlroy racked up six birdies with just one bogey, though he’s still got some catching up to do.
That’s because Tommy Fleetwood absolutely lit up the course.
Fleetwood, ranked 10th in the world, put on a show with eight birdies and an eagle for a scorching 10-under 62. He’s leading by one shot over Thorbjorn Olesen and Johannes Veerman.
The secret to Fleetwood’s success? A brand new prototype putter from TaylorMade.
“Putted amazing,” Fleetwood said. “Felt like I read the greens so well. Beautiful pace control and hit a lot of good putts.”
McIlroy’s sitting in a tie for 18th, five shots behind Fleetwood. He’s playing alongside Thriston Lawrence (67) and Rasmus Hojgaard (66) – his closest rivals in the Race to Dubai standings.
It’s been a month since McIlroy last competed, but he’s got a busy couple of weeks ahead. He’s playing this week in Abu Dhabi and next week’s season finale, where he’s looking to wrap up his third straight Race to Dubai title.
For now, though, he’s just focused on getting comfortable with those swing changes. “I was thinking too much about what I was doing with the swing,” he admitted. “But overall, it felt pretty good today.”
