Rory McIlroy turned to two bizarre practice clubs and a new takeaway feel at Bellerive, and the results have him back in contention at the BMW Championship.
Rory McIlroy showed up at the BMW Championship with something you almost never see in his hands: a swing aid.
Actually, make that two.
After a brutal week in Memphis, McIlroy returned home to Florida for a quick reset with longtime coach Michael Bannon. The result was a pair of modified practice clubs in a lob wedge and 7-iron fitted with oversized putting grips turned awkwardly off-center.
They look strange, but they also appear to be working.
McIlroy is 7-under through 36 holes at Bellerive Country Club, five shots behind leader Wyndham Clark and right in the middle of the weekend conversation.
That’s a dramatic turnaround from the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where Scottie Scheffler beat him by 15 shots over their first two rounds together.
The purpose of the modified clubs is simple: force McIlroy’s right arm and club into a better position during the takeaway.
“It just helps my right arm work better,” McIlroy said Friday. “Then the club gets more supported at the top.”
That matters because McIlroy has been searching for a reliable feel he can trust under pressure.
He’s also added a new pre-shot rehearsal. Before many shots, McIlroy takes the club back to about waist height, checks the position visually, then resets and hits.
It’s basic in concept, but the early numbers are encouraging.
McIlroy ranks 14th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green through two rounds and sits four shots ahead of Scheffler on the leaderboard. More importantly, he looks far more comfortable than he did a week ago.
That’s the real story.
McIlroy has always been capable of fixing things quickly. He did something similar at the Masters, when he lost confidence with the driver, stayed late on the range with caddie Harry Diamond, found a feel and came back the next day to win.
Now he may be doing it again and the timing couldn’t be better.
McIlroy has played only seven events since the Masters, with no finish better than seventh and very little serious contention.
A win at Bellerive would change the entire tone of his second half. And if two weird-looking practice clubs are what unlock the swing? At this point, Rory probably doesn’t care how strange they look.
