12 months ago, it was a far more hectic build-up to the Abu Dhabi Championship for Rory McIlroy. Beginning with the official unveiling of his lucrative affiliation with Nike, signalled by an extravaganza of fireworks and laser shows, the Northern Irishman, who had become world number one after a stunning run of form during the latter half of 2012 that saw him clinch the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, was the focal point of a level of hype that no player, excluding Tiger Woods, has surely experienced in recent memory. McIlroy would be paired alongside the 14-time major champion that week, with both then missing the cut. Woods would recover with a five-win season that saw him return to the summit of the world rankings after four years, while for McIlroy it was the beginning of a spiral of decline and frustration that blighted most of his 2013.
However, one year on, it was a far more settled and content Rory McIlroy that sat before the media on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. Despite falling to a three year low of seventh in the world, the two-time major champion is bullish after a long-awaited sustained run of form in the final quarter of last year. That comparative resurgence was culminated with his tremendous victory over Adam Scott in the Australian Open. Off the course, things are looking up for the 24-year-old too. As 2014 begun in Sydney, McIlroy revealed that he and Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki had become engaged.
“Yeah, it's been a great New Year's,” reflected McIlroy. “Obviously it was a great end to last year, as well, and playing well at the end of the season, getting a win down in Australia and then getting engaged in the same place, so that was quite nice.
“But yeah, we didn't actually-- I was always going to do it on New Year's, but we weren't actually expecting to be in Sydney. I thought we were still going to be in Brisbane. But Caroline had to pull out with a shoulder injury, and then thought it would be nice to spend New Year's in Sydney. And we were out on a boat in the harbour for New Year's and fireworks and stuff.”
In terms of golf, McIlroy feels that he is in a far stronger position than he was a year ago. Having performed well at Shanghai, Dubai and of course in Sydney, he has worked intensively on his game at the Butch Harmon School of Golf, and believes that his swing is back to where he wants it to be.
“I feel like I'm much better prepared heading into the first event of the season than I was last year. You know, my swing is in a much better place. I've done some really good work on that, the end of last year, and just in the couple of weeks that I've had here leading into this tournament.”
Abu Dhabi Golf Club, this week’s venue, is a course that McIlroy has performed well on in the past. Having posted consecutive runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2012 on the lengthy Peter Harradine design, the Ulsterman is fully confident that he can perform well on this layout once again.
“It's a golf course that's always sort of suited my eye. I've always done well here. I had a couple of chances to win, and (Martin) Kaymer was just too good those times”, McIlroy said.
Contrary to this time last year, McIlroy has been able to work on his game leading up to this event. Without the distractions that came from the Nike deal, he has been afforded an opportunity to quietly prepare for this season, and it has a chance that the former European number one believes that he has grasped.
“I worked on a few different things, a couple of little things in the golf swing which still I wanted to try and get completely right. I think my golf swing, because it's quite a natural motion, it's always going to be evolving; it's always going to be changing from time to time, and I just have to keep on top of a few key things just to make sure that it's always where I wanted to being. So worked hard on that.
“Yeah, it was a really good ten days, and I feel like I'm really well prepared to start the season.”
Last year, having become world number one, a different kind of attention and expectation was placed upon McIlroy. That can be a positive thing, financially certainly, but with that comes an often intrusive media focus, which undoubtedly takes time to adjust to. However, Rory fully believes that he is coming into this week with a more settled frame of mind than he had during most of last year.
“I guess one thing I would have-- reflecting back on last year, there was a lot of, I guess could you say, instability or whatever, and I feel like I'm just starting this year on such a different sort of platform.
“Everything sort of feels like it sort of fell into place and I can just focus on my golf. I know that everything else away from that is in a really good place, and I'm happy and I can go and try and play the golf that I know that I can.”
Typically candid, McIlroy did state that all of the off-course attention last year was difficult to deal with, but he believes that it is all part of the learning-process of becoming a great player.
“It’s a distraction. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and say that it didn't affect me. Of course it did. You're thinking of other things when you really shouldn't have to. But it's the last 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. It's great that I've went through it at this stage in my career and not 15 years down the line.”
Much of that objective will be based within scheduling for the year ahead. McIlroy accepts that he didn’t perhaps play enough last season, particularly within the proximity of the major championships and during poor runs of form, and he will seek to address that this year. He will return to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in a fortnight, the site of his first professional win five years ago, before embarking on his U.S. season at the Accenture World Matchplay. In terms of major preparation, he has already confirmed that he plans on competing at the Scottish Open, which will be played at Royal Aberdeen the week prior to The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Recurring words from Rory included “focus” and “settled”, and that bodes well for 2014, as this supremely gifted and likeable talent seeks to re-establish himself at the summit of the game, which is what his prodigious ability surely demands.