Legendary coach exposes major Rory McIlroy flaw

Rory McIlroy has locked himself in a studio for the past three weeks to tinker with his golf swing.

Without the distraction of his ball flight, McIlroy has spent his time before this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship focusing “entirely on movement” to iron out the flaws in his game that have seen him buckle with titles on the line this season.

“It’s something just to make my golf swing more efficient, and then if it is more efficient, then it means it’s not going to break down as much under pressure,” McIlroy said in the Middle East.

One assumes McIlroy’s tweaks may align with advice given by the legendary coach David Leadbetter.

In a column for Golf WRX, Leadbetter has explained the flaws that have derailed McIlroy’s hopes in major championships for a decade.

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“Having worked with some of the greats over the years, I believe the missing ingredient and flaw in Rory’s game lies in the consistency of his technique,” Leadbetter wrote. “Every tour player will tell you that confidence in their swing and control of the ball is the catalyst that fuels their success.”

Leadbetter, like many, is convinced that McIlroy falls short with his shorter irons.

“The stats back up that Rory’s weak spot seems to be his iron play from 100 to 175 yards — the critical scoring range,” he said. “If you compare Rory’s iron stats to Scottie Scheffler, the current world number one, the difference is quite remarkable whereas they are neck and neck in the driving stats.”

For reference, McIlroy finds 65.79% of greens in regulation from 125-150 yards. That’s well below the tour average of 70.42%. The dominant Scheffler, by contrast, finds the putting surface 77.20% of the time from wedge range.

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“Simply put, if he hits these clubs closer to the hole, he’ll have more birdie chances!” Leadbetter stressed. “Rory’s putting is solid overall; the work he’s done with Brad Faxon has been invaluable. And while he often excels on par-5s with his superior length, there are after all four par-3s and ten par-4s where he could see improvement with better iron play.

“Hitting shots closer to 15 feet rather than 30 feet could certainly make a big difference, especially in majors, where obviously there is greater pressure.  His near misses, which often come down to a shot or two, his flaw creates a problem by not hitting the ball close enough to the hole on his approach shots.

Leadbetter later explained that McIlroy has a “mechanical” issue, highlighting his takeaway as a key issue that is causing problems with his shorter irons.

“With the club moving outside at the start, in actual fact the club is traveling on path farther than need be to complete its journey to the top,” he added. “This creates a sync or timing problem where the body completes its rotation, but the arms continue swinging. With Rory’s aggressive lower body move on the downswing the arms then lag behind and the “stuck” feeling of the club coming too far from the inside results.

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“This feeling doesn’t really affect his driver because he has more time and compensates by backing up on the ball – a real power move for Rory. However, with his short irons, this “stuck” feeling can be a liability and requires expert timing of the hands to square the face up.”

Leadbetter does not think these changes are beyond McIlroy, however.

“My feelings are if Rory could improve his takeaway, his swing, especially with his short irons he would be more efficient, more in sync, and this part of the game could reach new heights for him,” he concluded.

“He still has time, and it would be incredible to see him dominate the game with the natural talent he so clearly possesses.”

Pete Cowen, the revered swing coach who has worked with McIlroy, acknowledged a similar swing fault in an interview with bunkered.co.uk in July.

But the veteran Yorkshireman also suggested McIlroy’s failure to put the blinkers on and be at ease with himself in the big moments is the salient problem affecting the Northern Irishman.

“Everybody watches him hitting balls on the range and I said ‘well, that’s alright, all your focus is there on the range,’” Cowen said.

“You’ve got no time between shots and then when you get on the course the blinkers start opening up. You’ve got five or ten minutes between each shot and that’s when the brain starts thinking of other things. It’s not easy to switch back on and hit the shot.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.