CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Prior to making the cut Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship, Rory McIlroy hadn’t been seen on the weekend on the PGA Tour for 60 days. But he has been grinding working on his game.
McIlroy brought noted swing coach Pete Cowen on board while staying with longtime coach Michael Bannon to help him sort through issues.
“The one thing that I was really happy about coming in here this week was my iron play, felt like I really found something last week,” McIlroy said. “I didn’t get a chance to show it yesterday because I wasn’t finding the fairway very much, but today, just having some more opportunities to hit good iron shots and give myself birdie chances, I was able to show it a bit today and it was nice.”
As was his work with the driver.
McIlroy’s bread-and-butter shot for so many years was hitting a big swinging draw with his driver. But for a couple years now, McIlroy said, he’s committed to hitting a fade.
One big reason for the change, he said, have been technological improvements in the modern driver, which he said makes it more difficult for him to draw the ball.
“So I’ve had to adjust,” he said. “That’s how I’ve played most of my life, so it’s committing to seeing a different way to hit tee shots and it’s just, it’s taking a while to get used to it.”
McIlroy will start Saturday two shots off the lead as he seeks to win for the first time in 550 days.