Rory's experiment with Cowen comes to an end

Rory McIlroy is back working with his long-time coach Michael Bannon after parting company with Pete Cowen after eight months together. McIlroy and Cowen got together at The Players and their time together included his victories at Quail Hollow and the CJ Cup.

But there was also the disappointment of the Ryder Cup, a paucity of top 10s and his Strokes Gained Approcah stats, where he would generally thrive with his laser-like irons, fell off a bit of a cliff, relatively speaking. Even at the CJ Cup in Vegas, where he led the way in putting, he gave up 3.6 shots to the field and ranked 67th of 77 players which was the worst recorded by a PGA Tour winner in the Shotlink stats era. Even off the tee he failed to make the top 40 at the PGA Championship and Memorial.

“Michael and I are back working together,” McIlroy told Golfweek. “I’ve always had a relationship with Pete and I’ll ask for his input if I feel I need it. But now it’s Michael and me.”

He last worked with Cowen at the Ryder Cup and he was back with Bannon a few weeks later after the win in Vegas which was the coach's first trip to the United States since the pandemic began.

McIlroy will play in next week's DP World Tour Championship and Tiger's event in the Bahamas at the start of December.