McIlroy starts with clean slate in Abu Dhabi
Rory McIlroy. Pic: Getty Images
Wiping the slate clean is part of the joy of a new year and Rory McIlroy is no different as he bids for the first opening week win of his career in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
As he jumped to the defence of pal Justin Thomas who admitted it was “humiliating” and “embarrassing” to be dumped by a sponsor for blurting out a homophobic slur, McIlroy is looking to win for the first time in 14 months and set himself up for a season in which he will be bidding to end a near seven-year drought in the Majors.
The four-time Major winning is playing the first of seven events in eight weeks in an effort to find the winning form he will need to win the Masters.
“I'm raring to go after the Christmas break," said McIlroy, who has had an incredible 11 top-five finishes but no wins in the first event of the year since 2008, including eight in ten appearances in Abu Dhabi.
“I’ve done some good practice and you come into the new season with renewed optimism and a lot of goals.
“I want to hit the ground running, play a lot, get into contention a lot and give myself chances to win tournaments. [The WGC HSBC Champions in] China in 2019 was the last time I won and it feels like a very long time ago.
“I’m trying not to be impatient. I try to stay as patient as possible, but what I will say is that last win does feel like quite a long time ago at this point.”
As for Tiger Woods, he expects him to make a speedy recovery from a fifth back surgery.
"I've known for a while,” McIlroy said. “He had it on the 23rd of December. In his words it was a small procedure.
“Obviously any time you are being cut into you try to avoid that as much as you can, but he was back on his feet the next day so I don't think we can read too much into it.
"I think they were just trying to clean a couple of little bits up. Obviously he won't be playing for the next couple of months but he should be back for the Masters, if not before that, so I think he'll be just fine."
When it comes to Thomas’ misfortune , he does not condone what he said in Hawaii but clearly feels the world number three has been harshly treated.
"He's got a lot of integrity, a lot of character,” McIlroy said. “Obviously it doesn't make what he said any better, but I think in this day and age, it's hard because it seems like you're not allowed to make a mistake anymore. Any mistake gets jumped on.”
Thomas, who was jettisoned by sponsor Ralph Lauren last week, hopes to make amends for his error of judgement in Hawaii, where he missed a short putt in the Sentry Tournament of Champions and blurted out a homophobic slur.
"I'm clearly not proud of what I said,” the 2017 PGA champion admitted. “It’s humiliating. It's embarrassing. It's not me. It's not a word that I use, but for some reason, it was in there.”
Pleased his other sponsors had decided to stick with him, Thomas added: “They know that's not how I act and, although they are far from brushing it to the side just like I am, they understand that this is an opportunity for me to educate myself, grow, become a better person.”
Meanwhile, England’s Tommy Fleetwood confirmed he will play two weeks before every Major this year, then take a week off.
“I am playing The Irish Open,” he said in a good news message for Mount Juliet, which hosts from
July 1-4.
