Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley has praised fellow golf star Rory McIroy for reaching new heights in 2022 and anticipates further success in 2023.
Dubliner McGinley was particularly impressed by McIlroy's 'drastic improvements' in wedge play and putting, two areas in which the Northern Irishman has struggled over the years. McIlroy, 33, finished top 10 at all four majors for the first time in his career and narrowly missed out on titles at both The Open and the Masters.
The County Down native may not have won one of the 'Big Four', though he still enjoyed a prosperous year after clinching his third FedEx Cup and finishing atop the DP World Tour rankings. And it's McGinley's belief that McIlroy may 'no longer have any weaknesses' after curing his game of errors.
"2022 has been a great year for McIlroy, with huge strides made, but as well as it's gone for him there will have been big learnings too," the 56-year-old wrote for Sky Sports. "While the measured decision making has proved fruitful in terms of the consistency of top-10 finishes in all four majors, he will have realised the importance of blending this new approach with flashes of that swashbuckling style of his that draws us all in and separates him."
McIroy's agonising wait for a Masters trophy goes on after he finished three stroke behind Scottie Scheffler at Augusta this year. His fourth-round 64 in Georgia was one off the course record, though it failed to make up for three rather average opening days in search of a Green Jacket.
That remains the only major prize that continues to elude the player, who won The Open, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship (twice) between 2011 and 2014. And as he enters another Ryder Cup year, McIlroy's focus should be on making a fast start in 2023.
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"The next couple of months are really important, as he reenergises and resets himself," added McGinley. "He doesn't want to lose the momentum he enjoyed in 2022. We've seen him before after quite extensive breaks come out of the blocks slow and kind of lose the initiative a little bit, then try new things.
"It's key that he keeps his focus of thought and to continue working along the lines we saw in 2022 as its a path that has yielded results and him becoming the best edition of a golfer that I've witnessed in his career to date."
On top of putting in the necessary "old fashioned hard work," McGinley suggested McIlroy's work with sports psychologist Bob Rotella has also yielded terrific results. That investment in self-care could continue to produce the results in 2023, not to mention a potential first major title in nine years.
