“Sometimes I'll get the clubface a touch open going back” – Rory McIlroy details his game with ‘little tweaks’ at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 

Rory McIlroy recently detailed the "little tweaks" he was making to his golf swing at the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. The DP World Tour event is being played at Yas Links golf course in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

McIlroy scored 67 in the first two rounds. After the second round, he was tied for 14th with a score of -10 with Alfredo Garcia-Heredia and Bernd Wiesberger.

In the post-round press conference, the World No. 3 was asked about the "little tweaks" to his golf swing, and if he could take any positives from the second round despite feeling more comfortable in the first. McIlroy said, via ASAP Sports:

"A little bit. I felt like I missed a few more shots to the right yesterday that I didn't today. So you know, with what I'm trying to do in my swing, sometimes I'll get the clubface a touch open going back and then hard to square it up from there."

"So sort of struggled a bit in left-to-right winds today but overall, I think with wanting to go out and perform well and score well, along with still trying to keep some of those feelings that I've had in my swing the last few weeks, I think it's been a good couple of days."

McIlroy was going strong in the second round and had a score of -7 until the 16th hole. However, he made a triple bogey on par-3 17th. He finished the round with a score of -5. Talking about it, he said:

"Yeah, I played quite nice up to that point, and I feel like I hit a nice should into 17. Nice flighted 5-iron, hit the downslope, trundled into the bunker, and then it wasn't a great leave in the first place. But club bounced on me. There the wasn't a lot of sand, and wherever the ball was in the bunker there, and I just sort of made a mess of it from there."

After two rounds, Paul Waring is on the top of the leaderboard with a score of -19. He will look for his second win on the European Tour as his first win came in 2018 at Nordea Masters.

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Rory McIlroy says that he'll need the golf course to "firm up" to win at the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

Rory McIlroy is currently competing at the penultimate event of the 2023-24 DP World Tour i.e. 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. After two rounds, he is 10 shots behind the leader Paul Waring.

The Irish player was also 10 shots behind at the 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January after two rounds. He carded 63 in the third round and went on to win the tournament by one shot over Adrian Meronk. In the post-round press conference, he was asked if it was doable at Yas Links golf course. He said, via ASAP Sports:

"I'd like to see the course get a bit firmer. There was a couple greens today that got a bit shinier and a little trickier. Yeah, I need the golf course to firm up a little bit and toughen up a little bit to have a chance. There's so many gettable holes out there, the par 5s and some of the shorter par 4s."

Rory McIlroy recalled shooting a 63 at Hero Dubai Desert Classic and said that he would need a similar, if not lower score to give him a chance in the final round. He said that it was achievable as he had been 7-under through 13 holes in the second round itself.