The Science of Becoming a Champion Like Rory McIlroy

He is not the first pro golfer to hit the gym every day, but he may be the most innovative.

Three Super Bowl quarterbacks walk into a gym early one morning, only to find a 5-foot-10 Northern Irishman already there. This is no joke. It happened in March at Augusta National Golf Club. Rory McIlroy, the world’s best golfer, was doing his usual pre-dawn workout when in walked Tom Brady, followed a few minutes later by Peyton Manning and his brother Eli. 

That’s seven Super Bowl championships and four major golf titles, if you’re keeping score. Also an average of about 6-feet-4 inches of American football muscle. 

“That was my time to leave,” McIlroy joked later.

Working out is no laughing matter for McIlroy. His success over the past four years — four major titles, number-one world ranking, huge Nike contract — might not have happened without the body he built in order to reach the top and stay there.

Staying power impresses the 25-year-old superstar. “They’re so dedicated and committed to what they do,” McIlroy said of the 30-something quarterbacks. “To see them putting so much into it even after 15 successful years of a career, it was great for me to see. It was inspirational in some ways.”

McIlroy, leader of a new breed of superfit golfers, is in the gym almost every day, carrying a year’s worth of carefully calibrated workouts on his phone.

He is playing at Augusta for the Masters and an attempt to complete the career Grand Slam — he’s already won the U.S. and British Opens, plus two PGA Championships. Attention will justly be paid to McIlroy’s gorgeous swing and level head, his booming drives and confident short game.

But underneath it all (including Nike clothing customized for that full-turning swing) is the body. McIlroy still had the whippy swing of a teenager — a corkscrew with arms — when trainer Steve McGregor, Ph.D., began working with him in 2010. McGregor also saw warning signs of conditions that have wrecked golf careers: a tricky back, shoulder impingement, and a body out of balance.

Now McIlroy has the physique anyone would envy — strong yet flexible, solid at the base, and well-proportioned. And, naturally, abs. 

Of course, 21st-century golf is full of fit bodies: Camillo Villegas, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, among others. 

McIlroy is somewhat different. He has combined uncanny natural ability with a body built with science and sweat.

“Rory’s not the first person to work out for golf,” says McGregor, whose doctorate is in exercise physiology. “Gary Player was the guy who took it forward, then Tiger took the mantle. Now Rory is keen to adopt a similar mentality in that he’s making sure that every area of possibility to give him a competitive edge — he’s covering it.”

It’s undeniable now, McIlroy says: Golfers are athletes. “This generation especially,” he says. “Jason Day is a big, strong, athletic-looking guy. That’s the sort of guy you’ll see coming into golf. As golf evolves and people have more knowledge, it’s only beneficial to be athletic and be strong in certain areas. Golf has become a power game, it really has. There’s obviously skill involved, but the longer you can hit it, the more advantage you’re going to have.”

The early stages of McGregor’s work focused on improving McIlroy’s balance, both side-to-side and front-to-back. He couldn’t stand on one leg very long; the shoulder problems came from being “very anterior-dominated, standing over the ball.”

Total-body exercises like deadlifts and squats built the leg strength that is more important to golf than most people realize. Core work provided the stability required for a swing that’s repeatable for a round, a tournament, a year, a career.

Plyometrics—explosive moves like box jumps and medicine-ball throws — helped give that swing more power than ever. His clubhead speed is faster than ever.

Nick Faldo, winner of three Master and three Open Championships in the late ’80s and early ’90s, has known McIlroy since he was a teenage phenom. He likes what he sees.

“He’s elevated himself physically,” Faldo says. “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 greatest golfer ever, Jack Nicklaus, agrees. “Rory’s swing is very much what I call playing golf athletically, from the ground up, where all sports are played from.”

Power, he explains, comes from the feet — that connection to the ground, transmitted through legs, core and (almost incidentally) arms.

“Rory plays golf very much with his feet, and they dominate the tempo, they dominate the start of his swing, certainly starting down. He’s got beautiful rhythm and timing.”

Everyone’s swing is different, but what’s important, Nicklaus says, is “whether it’s athletic and smooth and rhythmic and repeatable. I think Rory’s is all of those.”

Which is why McIlroy is in the gym so often.

Massage didn’t help his sore back five years ago. “So I needed to get in the gym, consulted with Steve,” he says. “At the start I needed to do it. But now I want to do it. Now it’s part of my life. It’s become part of my routine, I enjoy it. I love getting up in the morning. I love the feeling of sweating. It’s a great feeling, you feel like you’ve worked hard, it’s a great way to start your day.”