Rory McIlroy to Be More Golf Self-Reliant; Says He Has His Game Back

Rory McIlroy, like many — if not most — PGA Tour players, has had swing coaches for a long time, beginning when he was a very young golfer.  But after going through struggles with his swing and his game, he’s decided it’s time to rely on experience and what he knows how to do.

“I’m a big boy now. I’ve been around the block a bit, and if I have problems or struggles, I should be able to sort them out myself. Instead of looks to others to fix my problems, I’m going to take responsibility,” he said after the second round of the DP World Tour Championship.

However, he’s still keeping close ties with his long-time coach, Michael Bannon, as well as European golf coach whisperer, Pete Cowan.

“He’s (Bannon) coached me since I was 8 years old. He’s also been there, even if he wasn’t visible, he’s been in the background for the last six months,” McIlroy explained adding that Bannon probably knows his swing better than McIlroy does.

He’s known Cowan for nearly two decades.

“I’ve known Pete since I was 13 years old,” he continued. “If I want to ask his opinion on something, I can still do that. If I feel like I need his input, I’ll ask for it.”

"“Instead of looks to others to fix my problems,I’m going to take responsibility,” Rory McIlroy said."

In a quirk of timing, after the Ryder Cup, where McIlroy was visibly upset with the outcome and his own play, McIlroy and Bannon arranged for Bannon to visit him the week after the CJ Cup which was played in Las Vegas. In the interim McIlroy spent hours on the range with the goal of finding out what he already does well and where he needs to improve.

“Those two weeks in between the Ryder Cup and Vegas I feel like I figured a few things out on my own,” he said. “Sometimes you need to go and throw hundreds of balls down on the range.”

He was quick to add that it does not mean he’s never working with Bannon or Cowan again or that he won’t need help from an instructor at some time in the future. But in teaching himself what he can do, he gained confidence in being able to solve his golf swing issues on his own.  Going back to his basics, what he does well, and not trying to play like anybody else, he thinks will be the keys to even more success.

McIlroy thinks he’s a visual player.  He likened himself to Bubba Watson in that regard.

“I always see shots. I don’t know how much the shot tracer was out there today, but people probably see me playing shots again,” he added about the round in Dubai.

Before his massive range sessions, he said was simply looking at the ball and the target and trying to make the ball hit the target.

“I wasn’t seeing what I wanted to do with the ball,” he said. “Being more visual, seeing more shots, seeing trajectories, seeing shapes. That’s what I’ve always done really, really well. And I got away from that.”

This week he’s playing a course where he has great memories of great play, a course where he’s won twice, the Earth Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates.

While he’s has two victories on the PGA Tour in 2021 and achieved remarkable stature by notching his 20th win, he is not satisfied with the season.  His goals are loftier.

“Getting into contention in one major this year isn’t good enough for me,” he said. “I’ve done way better than that before, and I know I can again.”