I haven’t been there for a while, just getting excited, needing it too much, trying too hard. McIlroy is quoted as saying on the European Tour website.
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McDowell is working with both Clive Tucker and Pete Cowen and of reverting to a two-coach set-up, akin to his pre-US Open win of 2010, he explained: “Clive be a very analytical, fundamentals-type coach and Pete [is] the guy I want beside me on a Wednesday when I am trying to get ready for a big event”.
The Turkish Airlines Open is the first tournament of the Final Series and the two men know that it will be hugely significant in deciding who wins the Race to Dubai.
This season’s European Tour still has four events remaining and McIlroy, who enjoys a 271,214-point lead over Danny Willett in the Race to Dubai, will play in the Turkish Airlines Open, WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the year-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
‘If I was to go from then to the end of the season without another win, especially with how I was playing up until that point (McIlroy won three times up to May), it would be very disappointing, ‘ he added.
“I played the first 27 holes [in the PGA] as good as I can possibly hit the golf ball, and nine holes later I was packing my bags”.
Willett said: “It’s great to be in this position and the win at Nedbank was obviously a great start to the year for us and now if I can play nicely for the next few weeks it could be a really nice Christmas”.
“I feel like there’s a lot’s happened and a lot of time has gone by since that last win of mine back in May”.
“If I don’t make a serious impact and I can’t get myself into the top-20 in the Race to Dubai from this week, I am not really going to pursue it because the Earth Course in Dubai is not really a good golf course for me anyway”.
“So I’ve got three opportunities coming up to try to get a win or two on the board and end this year on a positive”.
“I think the US PGA at Whistling Straits was the end of my patience”.
“I’m just trying to finish the season off well”.
“So I’m really not concentrating and not thinking about that at all”.
‘I will answer that question closer to the time, ‘ he said in a stern tone.
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“And so I worked quite a bit on routine, on the mental approach of a putt and trying to free myself up and trying to simplify it a little bit instead of I felt like sometimes I was making it a little bit more complicated than it has to be”. But he honestly believes he’s slowly turning the corner with his game and reckons one good finish somewhere in the world over the the next month will put a different complexion on what’s been a 2015 campaign to forget. So I’ll always be somewhat of a streaky putter. When we last saw McIlroy, at the Frys, where he tied for 26, he said he wasn’t struggling because of a technical or feel issue on the greens. “I have heard so much about the brilliant golf in Turkey, so can’t wait to get out there and see what I can do!”
