You can believe this or not – I have written dozens of posts about him over the years since he turned pro in 2007, which was when I began my first blog SwingTheoryGolf on WordPress.

So I’ve seen him swing with changing models over the years, changes made necessary because of injuries, and he even at at time used a Classic-style lifting leading heel (I’d have to check my archive but I believe it would have been around the time he was winning majors).

It has been several years since I really looked regularly at PGA Tour players’ swings (too depressing), but today I read about him driving a 375 yard par 4 hole, to within 4 feet, with a carry of 346 yards on 188 mph ball speed.

I went looking for the swing which I saw on a down the line camera angle, but I thought for a moment – Rory is not a big fellow and he hit a drive (albeit downwind and I don’t know the wind speed) that carried 345 yards… I actually said to myself, “I’d love to see his setup face-on, because I wonder…”

I found a Youtube clip about 5 months old, so this is recent enough to likely be the way he’s still swinging, and wouldn’t you know it, I took a look at his Driver setup face-on and clapped my head, because there was a setup very similar to the one I’ve built:

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Disregard the circled grip, which is from the telestrator, but that setup is fire.

Now, I’m not saying that Rory McIlroy swings exactly like the model I’m currently building, but his setup with regards to balance and weight distribution are eerily similar to what I’m building.

My Reaction

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In fact, if you narrowed his stance so that his feet were just a little wider than the shoulders and adjusted his ball accordingly (if you change one thing, you’ll have to change other(s) as well), it would look pretty darned identical to what I’m building.

We’ll see when I’m finished with it, how they compare.

Now, Rory also does things in his swing that I don’t recommend, such as the hyper-twist in his lower back to get a more than 90 degree shoulder turn:

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… which I hope won’t end badly for him, but McIlroy seems to have a good deal more flexibility than the average swinger, so fingers crossed for his back – I like him out there rather than on the DL.

After all, despite his being a Manchester United supporter (I’m Liverpool FC), I would never pass up the change to lift a pint with him after he supported the Toronto Raptors to win their first ever title following his Canadian Open victory in 2019, which they did just weeks later:

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Stay fit, RM!

I’m going to have to watch out for more swingers on the Tour who seem to drive it long for their size, because that indicates technique over strength, although I’m sure Rors has a good weight training program on hand.

I’m so pumped to have confirmed my suspicions about the possibility that his setup might be similar to what I believe is the optimal one for a golf swing, because it only confirms what I came up with independently just very recently.

I’m on the right track!

More to come.