Rory ready to rock again

The promotional catchphrase for this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is – ‘Expect the Unexpected’.

A year on, the former world number one believes things could not be more different as he begins his 2014 campaign buoyed by renewed confidence in his game and recent engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.

“I feel like I’m much better prepared heading into the first event of the season than I was last year,” McIlroy said ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, which gets under way tomorrow. “Things are really looking good. I’m in a really good frame of mind and feel like I’ve built a lot of momentum at the back end of last year and am going to try to continue that into this season.