Head up and driver working, McIlroy struts his stuff again

Northern Irishman's confidence is back after 2013 filled with personal and professional difficulties

Rory McIlroy hits his approach into the 18th green during the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Friday. Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters

Rory McIlroy got to the end of the sentence, then drew something of a blank. Not to worry; plenty of fans with long memories can fill in the blanks, especially around here.

The Northern Irishman was contrasting his feelings on Friday with those of exactly one year ago, when he entered this week ranked No 1 in the world, was introduced as Nike’s US$20 million (Dh73.5m) a year product pitchman and then missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

“Coming off the last green last year, I was deflated to say the least,” he said. “The week didn’t go as I had planned. It started off with fireworks and ended in ...”

He searched for several moments for the right word, though “flames” might be an accurate blank filler.

Yet plenty can change in a year, not to mention the past two months, when McIlroy has shaken off the after effects of a dismal 2013 by finding the form that put him at the top of golf’s pecking order in the first place.

Hammering the ball off the tee as well as he has in more than a year, McIlroy tore up the back nine in the second round at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, finishing with a five-under 67 that moved him within two strokes of the halfway lead.

The world No 7 was five strokes under on his back nine, including two monstrous shots onto the green at the par-five 18th for an easy birdie.

Just like old times, he birdied six of his last 11 holes.

“The back nine was really impressive,” said McIlroy’s playing partner Phil Mickelson, the world No 5. “He is striking the ball well. His game is extremely sharp. I expect him to play good on the weekend.”

McIlroy birdied six of his last 11 holes, which jumped him to within two strokes of co-leaders Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Craig Lee.

McIlroy, the runner-up in Abu Dhabi two years ago, looks as though the sorely needed momentum he found at the end of 2013, when he finished joint-fifth in Dubai and won the Australian Open for his lone victory of the year, has not only continued but accelerated.

“It would be nice to win your first start of the season and not your last, like it was last year,” he said.

Both would be even better.

McIlroy would be atop the leader board already had he experienced a bit of luck over the first two days. After a perfect wedge shot from about 70 metres in the first round rimmed out of the cup on the fourth hole, something eerily similar happened yesterday. On the 14th, he ripped a 9-iron as hard as he could from the deep rough, about 135m out.

The ball bounced once, hit the flag, dropped straight down and somehow avoided falling in the cup. Still, it made for a kick-in birdie.

“I think I even let out a grunt on that one,” he said, before the man who is the fiance of the world No 10 in women’s tennis, Caroline Wozniacki, added: “Spending a little too much time around women’s tennis.”

The only blemish was a double-bogey on the sixth, when his drive hit a cart path and he was forced to take a penalty drop when the ball caromed into the desert. He made a putt of 2.5m to keep the bleeding to a minimum.

As he stood on the 10th tee, he challenged himself to play the back nine in four shots under par. “I did one better,” he said.

“Better” aptly encapsulates his start this week. In 2013, several bleary months went by before he was in contention, with too many personal and professional potholes along the way to count. His affairs in that regard have calmed down, too, and by acclamation, the McIlroy strut is back.

“I don’t feel I’ve struck the ball this well in a long time,” he said.