Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: McIlroy to take inspiration from Woods heading into season-opener

Rory McIlroy says he would like to add aspects of the winning formula adopted by Tiger Woods to his game as he bids to build on the momentum of his post-Ryder Cup performances in 2022.

The most recent of Woods' 15 major wins came at the Masters in 2019.

McIlroy begins his 2022 season at this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

«There are certainly aspects of what he did so well in the past that I would obviously love to put into my game,» said McIlroy of Woods' approach.

McIlroy says he is not seeking to improve his driving distance, the Northern Irishman having previously caused amazement by admitting flaws in his swing were caused by trying to emulate the sort of length achieved by Bryson DeChambeau.

«No, I don't need to,» explained the four-time major winner. «The goal of hitting more fairways, it maybe means throttling back and hitting three-wood a little more often or hitting clubs that are maybe not as aggressive off tees and just putting yourself in the fairway.

»I'll certainly pick and choose my spots where I can take advantage of the driver and hit it, the best player of the last 30 years, Tiger, he picked and chose where he hit driver and he played a very, very controlled game. It didn't work out too badly for him."

McIlroy broke down in tears after beating Xander Schauffele to register his only point in Europe's record 19-9 defeat by the United States at Whistling Straits last year, the world number eight feeling he «should have done more» in the contest.

Three weeks later McIlroy returned to action with a second PGA Tour title of the year at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas and the following month held the 54-hole lead in the DP World Tour Championship before being overhauled by Open champion Collin Morikawa and finishing