Rory McIlroy’s secret experiment to again become the most dominant golfer in the world

Rory McIlroy knew that something had to change.

He still had the talent to be the most dominating golfer in the world.

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Rory McIlroy made big changes to the most important part of his game[/caption]

And McIlroy had already won three of golf’s major tournaments, including two PGA Championship trophies.

But a lingering ‘Masters Curse’ had been highlighted by McIlroy’s surreal final-round breakdown at the 2024 US Open. 

So the 35-year-old golfer from Northern Ireland did what anyone with more than $160 million in career earnings would do.

McIlroy combined the filming of Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2 with a secret mission to privately fix his swing in a locked room.

“I got to spend a little bit of time with Rory in the offseason,” Chad Mumm, executive producer of Netflix’s Full Swing, exclusively told talkSPORT.

“And it was interesting, because he was in the middle of a pretty rigorous reworking of his swing.”

According to Mumm, McIlroy embraced the darkness and emerged with renewed personal confidence.

The No. 2-ranked golfer in the world has already won the Players Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this season.

He also overcame a fourth-round slide at TPC Sawgrass to own a playoff, and enters this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open as the hottest golfer on the circuit.

“He’s out for blood,” Mumm said.

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A renewed McIlroy has already lifted a trophy this season[/caption]

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Finally winning Augusta in April is one thing. 

McIlroy also spent his busy offseason focusing on improving his wedge and distance control.

“The month that we were filming Happy Gilmore in New Jersey, he was not watching his ball flight, which I thought was really fascinating,” said Mumm, who’s the co-founder and president of Pro Shop.

“Actually, I invited him out to go play some golf on one of the off days of filming movies, and a couple of the other players had come out.

“And he’s like, ‘Look, I’m rebuilding my swing. I’d love to come, but I’m literally locking myself in a simulator at night, turning the simulator off, filming my swing from behind, and just looking at the motion. If I see my ball flying through the air, I’ll start going back to the old ways.

“And so he took a month to rebuild it and he came back and, all of a sudden, here he is … seemingly in total control of his game.”

McIlroy acknowledged last November in Abu Dhabi that he emphasized creating more efficiency in a powerful swing that has created 28 PGA Tour wins, 11 international victories, 11 runner-up finishes, and almost $100 million in PGA cash.

“The only way I was going to make a change — or at least move in the right direction — with my swing was to lock myself in a studio,” McIlroy said.

“It’s something just to make my golf swing more efficient. And then if it is more efficient, then it means it’s not going to break down as much under pressure.

“If I look at my year, the one thing that I would criticize myself on is the fact that I’ve had these chances to win.”

If Scottie Scheffler falls backward in 2025, Mumm already knows who is set to take his place on top of the golf world.

“Watch out. He could have a Scottie-like season this year, and go reel off eight to 10 wins,” said Mumm, who added that McIlroy has a ‘jacked’ physique after the offseason swing changes.

Happy Gilmore 2 will see Sandler bring back the most famous Hollywood golfer of all-time with a cast that is set to include Christopher McDonald, Ben Stiller, Bad Bunny, John Daly, Paige Spiranac, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.

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The 2025 Masters will be held April 10-13 at Augusta National Golf Course.

McIlroy has entered golf’s most famous tournament 16 times and finished in second place in 2022.

Scheffler won August last year with an 11-under par.

McIlroy finished tied-for-22 at 4-over.

Jim Nantz recently revealed that he hopes to keep calling the Masters until 2036, which will be the 100th edition of the tournament.