By Kent Gray
With his heart in America and mind primarily focused on the PGA Tour, the chance to see Rory McIlroy play in the Middle East has sadly become a once-a-year proposition. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch the limited-season show in the flesh this week because the Northern Irishman might just be on the cusp of the best golf of his lifetime.

With a 64 that underscored the quality January’s Desert Swing events in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabian will be poorer for missing out on, McIlroy is just a stroke off Mike Lorenzo-Vera’s pacesetting 63 at the 11th DP World Tour Championship.

The highlight was a closing eagle on the 18th at Earth with a flushed three wood from 291 yards to five feet. Earth’s closing par 5 has seen its share of stunning shots over the years – Henrik Stenson’s tap-in eagle to clinch the 2013 DPWTC-Race to Dubai double chief among them – but this might just have eclipsed them all. 

The 30-year-old rated it as “possibly” his best shot of the year and agrees he has never been more comfortable on the course in a season highlighted by his $15 million FedEx Cup triumph and WGC HSBC Champions win in his last start.

“I’m looking forward to seeing it on TV later to be fair,” McIlroy said of his European Tour shot-of-the-year contender.

“Yeah, honestly it’s possibly the best shot I’ve hit all year. I had 270 — equivalent 272 to the front, 291 to the pin, sort of back in off the left. Wind was off the left so it was a nice one for me to just aim straight at the pin and know if I hit my little draw it should hold but if it gets going on the wind, obviously the bunker on the right is better than the water on the left. I just flushed it.

“…It was right on the limit but as soon as I hit it, I knew it was perfect. It was right out of the middle. Great to finish like that, and yeah, it was a great round of golf.”

Indeed.

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
McIlroy plays his celebrated second shot into 18 late in Thursday’s opening round.

It was a treat for the galleries and sets McIlroy up to emulate his 2013 and 2015 wins here. A recent teat from wife Erica clearly has the world No.2 in the mood for more silverware.

“We had just moved into our new house a couple of months ago but we still had not moved everything in, and the trophy cabinet had not been built. Got back from [winning in] China, walked into our sort of games room and up on the wall were all the trophies and stuff.

“All that stuff had been in storage for a year and a half, so the first time I had seen the Claret Jug and U.S. Open trophy and all that sort of stuff. It’s cool but it’s also a great motivator to think, you know, I’m still pretty early in my career and I’ve done quite a lot but I still want to do so much more.”

Clearly the work he’s put in with coach Michael Bannon gives McIlroy a great chance of another Dubai trophy heist. While Thursday’s dramatic finish captured the most attention, McIlroy’s barrel straight driving and putting, especially in the early part of the opening round, were sights to behold.

Your comfort level playing golf right now, is it as high as it’s ever been? 

“It is. I’m hitting the ball where I’m looking…I feel like my swing is in as good a spot as it’s been in a long time. Michael Bannon and I have worked hard on that. It sort of went off,  started going off in the middle of 2016, going into ‘17, and the injury and even last year it wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be, but somehow this year we’ve got it back to where we like it, and it’s very repeatable. 

“Yeah, so I guess it’s as good as I’ve of swung it, I feel, and then factor in the greens and short game and everything, I feel like the whole package is working pretty well.”

Just as important for McIlroy was the patience he displayed after a bogey on the 12th threatened to derail the good work of a five-birdie outward nine played in just 31 strokes.

“Yeah, my patience was rewarded. Bogeyed 12. Made a great up-and-down on 13 for par and nearly made a mess of 14 and made par there. I think, you know, maybe in the past going to the 15th tee, I would have been trying to push it a little bit. I just sort of stayed patient. I hit a good drive up 15,” McIlroy said.

“There’s a lot of golf left in this tournament and [I’m] not trying to push it too much. It’s funny, sort of counterintuitive, the less you try push it, it seems like the lower the scores are.”

You wouldn’t want to miss the exhibition.