GIVE US DE OLD RORY
Butch: Chasing big-hitter DeChambeau is wrong ... go back to basics and you’ll win another Major
RORY MCILROY needs to get back to basics and refind the old swing which won him four Major titles.
That is the verdict of coaching guru Butch Harmon.
And the American reckons straight-talking Yorkshireman Pete Cowen is the ideal coach to help him.
The Northern Irishman will make his seventh attempt to complete his career Grand Slam at The Masters this week.
But McIlroy, who last won a Major at the 2014 USPGA, has slipped down to world No.11 after admitting he was chasing extra yardage in pursuit of bighitting Bryson DeChambeau.
He has now started working with the Englishman before the first Major of the year.
And Harmon, the Godfather of the golf swing, claims Cowen will help the 31-year-old simplify his approach to getting the little white ball in the hole.
The Sky Sports Golf expert admitted: “He 100 per cent needs to stop over-analysing and just get back to playing golf. He just needs to go back to the basic fundamentals, to what made him so good in the past.
“Chasing DeChambeau distance-wise was so wrong, because he’s already one of the longest hitters in the game, a beautiful driver with a flowing swing so I was shocked he would even go down that road.
“Rory got caught up in something he didn’t need to get caught up in. That kind of got in his head, and affected his swing.
“That hurt him and he needed someone to point him in the right direction.
“I like the marriage of the two of them and if I know Pete, he’s getting that out of there.
“We saw him play a little more under control already at the Match Play. The difficulty will be coming into a Major with some new swing thoughts
“But he needs to get him back to a more consistent way of playing – and to get his confidence back. Once you lose confidence in what you’re doing it’s hard to compete at this level.
“It’s only going to take one really good round for Rory to go out and start playing solidly again and all of a sudden the old Rory will come back.”
McIlroy led the PGA Tour driving stats in 2017 and 2018 – and has been in the top four in each of the last five years.
He is third in this season’s distance stats and is averaging less than two yards behind DeChambeau off the tee.
“I was a little bit surprised that he would have said what he said about trying to catch Bryson but then again that’s why we love Rory,” added Harmon.
“He’s brutally honest and he will tell you how he’s thinking, which is refreshing in this day and age because half the time they’re just telling you bull***t.
“It seems to be a trend going around trying to achieve more distance.
“Though if you look at the guys at the top of the world rankings – Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas – they are long hitters, but are not trying to jump out of their shoes. They are just trying to play their game – Rory has finally realised that is what he needs to do.”
And Harmon, who father Claude won The Masters in 1948, insisted length off the tee is not the key to winning at Augusta. The 77-year-old said: “Everybody gets wrapped up with distance at Augusta.
“But it is a second-shot course and you have to putt well. I don’t think DeChambeau has an advantage there.”