It took four playoff holes, but Rory McIlroy rolled in a 14-foot birdied putt at the Tour Championship, providing him with the points needed to win the FEDEXCup and a cool $10 million. The 27-year-old from Northern Ireland has already won 13 times on tour since turning pro nine years ago. Of those 13 wins, four have been major championships. This hasn’t happened by accident.
McIlroy was a beanpole when he first joined the professional ranks. He did have plenty of early success, but he’s taken his game to new heights with TPI fitness training. He’s only 160 pounds, but is rock solid. While he has bulked up with weight training, he has not lost any of his flexibility. In fact, his core is only stronger now, and it’s helped him with his all-around game.
He’s the first golfer to ever grace the cover of Men’s Health magazine, and his peers have voted him as the top driver in the game. He says all the training from the ground up, through his core, has produced the swing he has today. It’s the TPI training that’s allowed him to improve on an already-great natural swing. Where he used to rely on his arms, he now says they are the least important part of his swing.
Nick Faldo is a six-time major champion, and is now a chief analyst for coverage of the Masters. Faldo says, “He’s elevated himself physically. Tiger took it to one level. Now the science of this game is different, they’re all into this explosive training. He’s taken the physical part to another level.”
The guy who can do so much with a golf club used to get massages for his sore back. It didn’t work. That’s when he decided to get to the gym and work on his TPI training. “At the start, I needed to do it. But now I want to do it,” says McIlroy in the Men’s Health article. “I love getting up in the morning. It’s a great feeling. It’s a great way to start the day.”
You may not earn a $10 million check from the PGA tour, but you can enjoy a whole lot more success on the golf course if you put in the time on fitness.