After a largely disappointing last year both on and off the golf course double Major winning Rory McIlroy believes he’s a smarter and happier player heading into his new season this week in Abu Dhabi.
McIlroy commences his seventh full season in the pro ranks in this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The 24-year old Northern Irishman, who has slipped to No 7 on the World Rankings, has been in nearby Dubai also in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) working on his game since the start of the New Year and after announcing his engagement to tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki during the Sydney Harbour New Year’s Eve fireworks display.
In contrast it was a low-key first official day of 2014 for McIlroy compared to being in Abu Dhabi a year ago a guest at a lavish launch more befitting a box office actor than a golfer where it was announced he was switching clubs to Nike in a deal reputed worth $US 225m over five years.
Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson get in the mood for this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
But while McIlroy had ended 2012 having captured a second Major and following England’s Luke Donald as becoming both European and PGA Tour No. 1, last year was fraught with frustration with McIlroy struggling in the Majors and WGC events, and also having to deal with widely published issues in his private life, before his only success of 2013 when he captured his penultimate event of the year, the Australian Open in Sydney.
“I am not going to sit here and say that all the stuff going on off the golf course wasn’t a distraction and say that it didn’t affect me,” he said.
“Of course it did. You’re thinking of other things when you really shouldn’t have to. But it’s the year I’m ever going to have to go through something like that, and I’ve learned from it and I’m smarter because of it.
Rory McIlroy admits he’s a lot smarter and happier going into season 2014. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“It’s great that I’ve went through it as this stage in my career and not 15 years down the line.
“So off the golf course, I’m in a great place and I am happy. I mean there is I shouldn’t be smiling. I’m feeling good about where I am mentally. I feel good with everything that’s going on off the golf course, and it’s hopefully shaping up to be a good year.”
McIlroy intends competing in two of three European Tour’s ‘Desert Swing’ events including joining World No. 1 Tiger Woods in the 25th anniversary of the Dubai Desert Classic starting on January 30th before commencing his PGA Tour three weeks later in the Accenture WGC – Match-Play Championship in Arizona.
He will again contest the following week’s Honda Classic where he controversially walked off after nine holes last year in the defence of his title.
McIlroy will also tee-up in the March 6th commencing WGC – Cadillac Championship in Florida and following a three week rest will return for Shell Houston Open and the following week’s Masters at Augusta.
It will again mean not contesting the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and not teeing up a week later in the Valero Texas Open where he secured his best finish on either the PGA or European Tour in 2013 in being runner-up to Scotland’s Martin Laird.
“I’m planning on taking two weeks off after playing in Dubai, and then if I have two good weeks, I’ll probably start at the Match-Play but if I don’t feel like I’ve played the way I want to, I’ll probably start my PGA Tour year in L. A.,” he said.
“So we’ll see what happens. If I do start in L. A., I might play Honda so the start to my season is a bit fluid. I’m just going with the approach that it depends on how I start the year and then I can adjust in a way.
“I’ll play Quail Hollow (Wells Fargo Championship and TPC (Players Championship) after the Masters, and then after that, I don’t really know. So it’s all a little bit fluid at the minute.
“I haven’t really got a schedule and it’s something I am working on.”
And McIlroy revealed asking Wozniacki to marry him was one of the biggest decisions he has ever had to face in his life.
“I don’t think there can be a bigger decision you have to make than asking someone to marry you,” he said.
“If anything, it will only help to have that stability and know everything in that regard in my life is set. It’s a big step in anyone’s life to make that decision, and obviously it’s not one that you sort of take lightly.
“If you get engaged, you plan on spending the rest of your life with that person, so it’s a big decision but I feel like she’s definitely the right girl for me.”
While the couple have not set a date for their wedding, McIlroy revealed he had approached Wozniacki’s parents some weeks earlier before ‘popping the question’ on a boat moored close to the Opera House in Sydney.
It was just weeks after McIlroy had defeated Australia’s and Masters champion, Adam Scott at the Royal Sydney Golf Club and located also on the shoreline of Sydney Harbour.
“There must be something about the air in Sydney as the city has been good to me,” smiled McIlroy.
