Rory McIlroy might have one of the most perfect swings in golf, but even a major grand slam champion needs some guidance and another pair of eyes from time to time.
The Northern Irishman has had several different swing gurus in his team over the years as he’s pursued more success on the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and in the majors.
Despite working with different names and faces over the years, Michael Bannon has been an ever-present figure for the vast majority of his life, having first coached him at eight years of age.
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Who is Rory McIlroy’s coach?
Bannon was the professional at Holywood Golf Club where McIlroy first fell in love with the game. Now, he doesn’t travel with McIlroy on a full-time basis, but he is seemingly never far away when the major-winning, Ryder Cup star needs some help.
“He got good parents, and his parents were great,” Bannon said to the Drop Zone podcast back in 2020. “They brought him up well, gave him the confidence and you know, not to talk about myself, but maybe I was the right person in the right place at the time. I was lucky, too. And it’s just a combination. I don’t really know.
“One of the smart things his dad did which was very good and a lot of junior parents should do, is his dad adjusted the pars on the golf course.
“So if it was a par-4, I mean, Rory was small. He reckoned, ‘Okay, the par is really 6 or 7 for that hole. So he would write that on a card. You know, this is not in competition golf. This is just in casual golf when Rory would go out and play.
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“So the first could have been a par-6 or 7. Then the next might have been a 6, and he’d do nine holes. And Rory could go around the course under par.”
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While Bannon has always been there, some coaches have come and gone. McIlroy worked with Pete Cowen for eight months, who is regarded as one of the best golf coaches in the world and a hugely respected and knowledgeable figure in the game. They stopped working together in 2021.
Cowen of Sheffield has coached several top players such as Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia. McIlroy has also sought help with the specifics of his game too from Phil Kenyon no less.
Kenyon is a putting expert and has previously helped McIlroy on the greens. Kenyon’s client list includes Max Homa, Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley, and he coached seven of the world’s top 40 players at the start of 2025.
McIlroy has more recently worked on his putting with former PGA Tour star and current broadcaster Brad Faxon. Also, the European Ryder Cup star also once acquired the services of Dr Clayton Skaggs.
Skaggs founded the Central Institute for Human Performance, which offers many different programmes such as consultations, clinical services to solve pain and injury, and enhancing general performance with interdisciplinary teams.
McIlroy was pictured with Skaggs at the 2019 Masters, which was won by Tiger Woods, and he revealed the pair were focused on something known as the three P’s – Perspective, Persistence and Poise. The institute has been going for over 20 years.
In terms of the psychological side of his game, McIlroy also works with Dr. Bob Rotella. Rotella is one of the most reputable sports psychologists in the world, and he helped Padraig Harrington win three major championships.
Rotella was the director of sport psychology at the University of Virginia, and he wrote ‘Golf is Not a Game of Perfect and Putting Out of Your Mind’.
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