Rory McIlroy has opened up about his intense preparation for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, revealing that he spent three weeks isolated in a swing room to correct issues with his golf swing.

The past year has been filled with close calls for McIlroy, including a devastating moment at the US Open in June when he lost a two-shot lead to Bryson DeChambeau with just four holes remaining. The final holes at Pinehurst No. 2 saw a series of mistakes that cost him his fifth major title and first in a decade.

Since that disappointment, the Northern Irish golfer has been the runner-up twice more: once at the Irish Open at Royal County Down and again after a playoff loss to Billy Horschel at the BMW PGA Championship. These setbacks have impacted McIlroy both in his physical technique and mentally.

To address these challenges, the 35-year-old dedicated himself to indoor practice for an uninterrupted three-week period, aiming to refine his game for the upcoming DP World Tour playoff event in the Middle East.

“I probably haven’t liked the shape of my golf swing for a while, especially the backswing,” McIlroy admitted on Wednesday. “The only way I was going to make a change or at least move in the right direction with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and not see the ball flight for a bit and just focus entirely on the movement.”

“So did that for three weeks after the Dunhill [Links Championship]. Started to get outside and hit some shots last week and see how it is. I’m terrible at if I’m trying to make a certain swing or a certain swing change, and I start to mis-strike it or not hit the shots that I want, I’ll just revert back to what I was doing because it’s comfortable.”

Despite his efforts, McIlroy acknowledges that perfecting his swing is an ongoing battle.

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy’s season has still been remarkable ( 

Image:

Getty Images)

“I think doing this in the studio, it was a big key for me to just try to make a start on getting the swing back to where I want it to be,” he said. “But it’s an ongoing process, as you know, to get out here and play.

“When there’s sequences to the shots that you hit, you’re always going to revert back to what’s comfortable. Hopefully the more that I do over these next few months, it will bed in and get back to the shape I want to be in.”

McIlroy’s season remains remarkable, though. Leading the Race to Dubai Rankings, he’s eyeing a strong performance at Yas Links to potentially clinch his sixth season-long title on the DP World Tour. With a focus on success, McIlroy is determined to finish strong.

“I’m focussed on this week,” he said. “If I can play well this week, play really well this week, then next week won’t matter, for me, anyway. I’ll still want to go out and play well and try to win the golf tournament, but I know that I can make life a lot easier for myself with a good week this week. Fully focussed on that.”