Rory McIlroy turned to Butch Harmon for another opinion on his golf game. Photo: Getty Images/Stuart Franklin
Rory McIlroy has enlisted and respected coach Butch Harmon is trying to solve his two-shot puzzle for next week's Masters.
The world number two is playing in San Antonio at the Valero Texas Open as he prepares for his 10th attempt to become the sixth player in history to complete a career Grand Slam. Since his impressive start to the season in Dubai in January, where he finished second and first, McIlroy has been indifferent on the PGA Tour, recording just one top-20 finish in five tournaments.
The 34-year-old has made no bones about it. that he has problems with his game, primarily with his approach. He's been hard at work the past two weeks, and last week he was spotted at Michael Jordan XXIII's ultra-exclusive Grove near his South Florida home.
McIlroy spent some grueling training on the range with fellow Ulsterman Michael Bannon, who has been watching the famous rhythmic movement since the four-time major winner was eight years old. It was revealed – first through the GolfWRX website – that he had traveled more than 2,000 miles from Nevada to seek advice from the famous Harmon.
The 80-year-old led Tiger Woods to his first eight major victories, including three victories over the Green Jackets, and also enjoyed success at Augusta with Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Harmon has retired from tour life but still teaches from his Las Vegas base.
England's Tommy Fleetwood is now a client and McIlroy's management confirmed to Telegraph Sport on Wednesday that he too has signed up for the whole thing experience.
“I was having trouble with my swing, and after The Players I just thought, “I'm obviously missing something here,” and I'd like to go and let him take a look, second a pair of eyes,” he said.
“When I was getting ready, I told Poppy [his three-year-old daughter] that I was going to a golf lesson. She said, “But you already know how to play golf.” So I left with these words of wisdom.”
This isn't the first time he's consulted Harmon, and despite Poppy's completely justified line of questioning, it makes sense. McIlroy has admitted to being in a quandary about his “feelings” about the clubs, and it all comes down to what some experts say is the age-old paradox of his swing.
He is without a doubt one of the greatest drivers in golf, but at 150 yards his shortcomings have become all too obvious of late. He leads the PGA Tour's Total Driving stats this campaign, but ranks 119th on the Strokes Gained – Approach Play charts.
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McIlroy has a “back axis” wood swing where his weight is on his back foot, as opposed to his “front axis” iron swing. when the weight is on the front leg, resulting in a steeper takeoff.
The most important stat at Augusta is “proximity to the hole,” so McIlroy's persistence is understandable and he has addressed the disconnect issue in his game.
“I have this amazing feeling with my woods for a minute, but when I try recreate that feeling with the shackles, it starts to the left and goes further to the left,” he said. “I think because you turn harder with the tree, you kind of have a harder time clearing [your body].
“It’s almost like two different swings. I have one idea for my woods, but I need another idea for my irons, and that's what I'm working on.”
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The wood at impact is more in front of McIlroy than behind him with the iron, as evidenced by the difference in space between his hand and hip at impact with each club.
His demons at Augusta are the stuff of golf legends, and many doubt he'll ever overcome the mental barrier. But purely from the point of view of “two swings”, is it between the ears or between the shoulder blades?
Instructors have previously claimed that McIlroy uses the wood to create what is known as a “backswing.” – which essentially means that most of his mass at impact remains over his right foot – whereas with his irons it's a front-axle swing, with his weight over his left foot. This is problematic because, as McIlroy noted, elite golfers like to play the “swing” rather than think about the “swing” in competition.
“On the tee box, I have to remind myself that, okay, this is a wood and I'm going out into the fairway and this is an iron and I have two different feelings and two different thoughts,” he said.
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McIlroy finishes with a traditional loop finish with a wood wrap at the back of the head, which is different from his high and short iron-on finish.
However, Pete Cowan disagrees with this double assessment. The Yorkshireman, who vies with Harmon for the title of “best coach in the world”, worked with McIlroy in 2022 when he briefly left Bannon, and inevitably recognized the weakness that, surely more than any other, held him back from winning the fifth major. and for the first time in a decade.
“It's not double movement, it's speed,” Cowan told Telegraph Sport on Wednesday. “Rory is able to line up the club and hit it on center at 125 to 130 mph. But it struggles at lower speeds. So he fights the flight of the ball with his wedges. If people think that, then it's a two-move problem.”
What's certain is that McIlroy needs a quick fix if he's going to challenge among the pines of Augusta Cathedral next week, and it will be exciting for next week weeks. next few days at TPC San Antonio to see if the Harmon effect worked. But McIlroy is positive.
“When I saw Butch in Vegas, a couple of things stood out to me,” he said. “It feels a little more cohesive… it feels like they're kind of merging into one. The trip was worth it.”
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