Rory McIlroy, in shorts and shooting the breeze with, among others, footballer Declan Rice on the driving range, is starting out his year’s work at Dubai Creek Golf Club – not quite in the desert, rather close to the urban centre of the emirate – but with clear thoughts on where he would like the journey to take him.
Most immediately, it is the Masters in Augusta National in April; thereafter, it will be a schedule that takes in the other three Majors (the US PGA at Valhalla, the US Open at Pinehurst and the 152nd Open at Royal Troon), the Olympics in Paris, the FedEx Cup stateside and, ultimately, finishing up where he started back in Dubai, for the DP World Tour Championship, where he will aim for a sixth career Harry Vardon Trophy (for the order of merit) to cap things off.
That’s a while away yet, admittedly.
In effect, the Northern Irishman is heading into an 11 months campaign where, freed from the distractions of being a board member on the PGA Tour, he can selfishly focus on himself and, if this week’s initial foray back to competitive golf will probably be the most relaxed week of the new season, it won’t be long until it gets more and more serious.
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McIlroy’s reconfigured schedule with an eye on the elusive Green Jacket at the Masters will likely see him play nine times before he gets to Augusta, with his PGA Tour season commencing in the Pebble Beach pro-am next month, one of the new $20 million so-called signature tournaments on the US circuit:
“I’m excited for the year,” insisted McIlroy. “This is my 18th full season on tour, which is mad to think about, but I’m as excited as I was for the first one. I think every new year; new year, new opportunities, new goals and my consistency’s really been there over the last couple years. And without winning one of the big ones, and I think that’s the final piece of the puzzle for me, especially coming out of Covid and sort of going through some dips in my game and then coming back up and playing so well the last couple years. The final piece of the puzzle is trying to knock off one of those four [Majors].”
The Masters, obviously, is a career goal as he seeks to complete the Grand Slam – only achieved by five other players in the modern era (Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods) – and McIlory admitted, “I’d love to win it, I probably will look back and think I missed out on something ... I have to go out there and earn it. People can say the course suits my game all they want, I still have to go out there and play the golf. I’m on a pretty strong list of players who have won three of the four Majors. But I’d like to be on a shorter list of those who have won all four.”
McIlroy has talked of the need for golf to move into a more global schedule: “If you look at what all the tournaments that all the top players play, informally, sort of without any structure between a few different tours, I think we have at least the majority of what a global tour would look like. We still need to make sure that the biggest tournaments are in America; obviously that’s the biggest place that we play.
“But also trying to elevate some of the other tournaments around the world. You know, trying to, Middle East, Continental Europe, UK and Ireland, the Far East, whether it be Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa.
“I mean, you’ve got a lot of different opportunities there. I think if we really want to, if everyone is talking about growing the game and trying to, especially if these investors are going to come into our game and they want a return on their capital. I think everyone needs to start thinking more globally around it, but globally in a holistic way. But not really like this tour, that tour and another tour.”
And, in an interview with Golf Digest magazine, McIlroy also made a play that Saudi Arabia – apart from its financial clout – could become a destination in the likely new-look global itinerary for players:
“Going forward, if everything is on the table, venues have to be a big part of the consideration. We need to make sure the courses are worthy of the players who are going to be competing. My dream scenario is a world tour, with the proviso that corporate America has to remain a big part of it all. Saudi Arabia, too. That’s just basic economics.
“But there is an untapped commercial opportunity out there. Investors always want to make a return on their money. Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about $2.3 billion. So how do we get that number up to four or six? To me, it is by looking outward. They need to think internationally and spread their wings a bit. I’ve been banging that drum for a while.”
The PGA Tour is continuing negotiations to finalise an alliance with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV. The deadline was December 31st before it was extended.
While men’s golf’s future – with so many balls still being juggled in the air – may well become increasingly global, McIlroy’s work for the year starts in a familiar place and on a course where he once played regular skins matches with members and fellow pros at Dubai Creek.
“[It’s] a gentle way to start the season and treat it more as a bit of a practice week and see where my game is and see if I need to make any adjustments going into next week [in the Dubai Desert Classic] and obviously the bulk of the season, starting off in the states in California in a few weeks’ time. I just thought it was a good opportunity to get on the golf course, get a card in my hand but in a more relaxed setting, so I’m excited for that for the week.”
Dubai Invitational lowdown
Purse: €2.30 million (€400,000 to the winner)
Where: Dubai, UAE
The course: Dubai Creek – 7,059 yards, par 71 – originally opened in 1993 and previously hosted the Dubai Desert Classic (in 1999 and 2000) but underwent a significant redesign by European Golf Design in association with Thomas Bjorn with the new course coming into play in 2004. The course has a reputation for its immaculate conditioning but is short by modern standards and pin placements play an important part in its protection. There are a number of drivable Par 4s, including the 17th of 350 yards, which holds the expectation of a birdie fest. Could we even see a sub-60?
The field: No doubt about the star attraction, with world number two Rory McIlroy – who lived in the emirate for almost four years in the early part of his professional career – playing in back-to-back weeks in Dubai. McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard were all team-mates in last year’s Ryder Cup success for Europe and kick-start their year’s work here in a tournament that has a limited professional field (just 60 players) and with a pro-am team element as well.
Quote-Unquote: “Like most people in the world of golf, I don’t win anywhere near as much as I would like, so you’re always looking to that missing piece that would lead to you more victories.” – Tommy Fleetwood on looking for the secret sauce to success.
Irish in the field: Tom McKibbin, who secured a breakthrough win on tour in his rookie season last year in the Porsche European Open, and Rory McIlroy. McKibbin, who turned 21 last month, is drawn alongside Daniel Hillier (tee-time 6.03am Irish time), while McIlroy (off the 10th) is alongside Ryan Fox (5.14am Irish time).
Betting: Rory McIlroy starts the year in familiar territory, as the market leader, a short-priced 5-2, with Tommy Fleetwood, who lives in the emirate, rated a 15-2 shot. On a course where accuracy and strategy is likely to be as much a factor as big-hitting, Marcus Helligkilde is worth an each-way look at 50s while Tom McKibbin is also keenly priced at 55-1.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports Golf from 7.30am.
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