Rory McIlroy shows no rust in return at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Rory McIlroy didn’t win on Sunday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, but what we saw bodes very well for what he has in store in 2018.
Rory McIlroy has made the walk, literally, thousands of times. Up the 18th fairway on a Sunday afternoon, this particular time at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The Ulsterman, always an intense competitor, couldn’t quite get the momentum going that he needed to bring home the title. Tommy Fleetwood, with a white-hot finish, got that job done. So how did he feel afterwards?
In a word he would use often in his post-round interviews: happy.
Surprising? Perhaps, considering that McIlroy entered the finale just one shot off the lead. But when you remember that he hadn’t hit a single competitive shot in over three months, it begins to make more sense.
McIlroy, of course, stumbled through much of 2017. A rib injury forced him out of this very tournament last year, and he aggravated a back injury at THE PLAYERS. In the summer, he split with longtime caddie J.P. Fitzgerald, replacing him with close friend Harry Diamond. He made the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but without a victory, his season ended before East Lake.
McIlroy made his last start at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in the first week of October, then shut it down for an extended break. This week in Abu Dhabi, the 28-year-old was happy to be back, healthy once more, and it showed in his performance.
"“Where I’ve come from the last three months just in terms of my health and my golf and everything, I’m in a much better place now than when I sort of left the game for a little bit in October,” McIlroy said. “Really happy with that, and yeah, just looking forward to getting back at it again next week and trying to put myself in contention again.”"
One thing is for sure: a happy, healthy Rory McIlroy is not something most of his competitors around the world will want to see. There’s plenty of contention still at the top of the world rankings, from Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, to Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and even Rickie Fowler. But when McIlroy has been on top of his game before, he’s been next to unbeatable.
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We’ll know pretty quickly how far McIlroy will be able to take this run in 2018. He’s just starting off a run of eight tournaments in the lead-up to the Masters. With Augusta National as the only missing feather in his major championship cap, he’s already claiming his place as one of the top contenders at the year’s first major.