Dubai: Rory McIlroy is targeting a double hat-trick with victory at this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club from Thursday.
Not only would he equal Ernie Els’ record most wins tally for this event with his third Coffee Pot trophy, but he would also make it three event wins on the bounce in Dubai — after bookending last year with the Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championship titles.
“It’s always nice to be back in Dubai, and I guess the last couple of times I’ve played here I’ve done pretty well,” said the 26-year-old, who boasts two wins (2009, 2015) and six top 10 finishes — all in his last six outings — in a total nine appearances in the emirate since 2006.
“I’m sort of going for three in a row in Dubai with winning here last year, and then with the DP World, just at the end of last season.
“It seems to bring out my best golf,” added the four time Major winner of Dubai, who reached the milestones of first cut and first victory on the European Tour at this event in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
“I’ve got great memories from the Emirates here, winning my first tournament, making my first cut. So it’s always great to be back.
“I think this is my 10th year since I started coming here and playing in the tournament, twice as an amateur. So I’ve got a lot of great memories and I get a lot of support here, so I’m obviously looking forward to the week.”
Of his form heading into the event, after finishing tied for third at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship a fortnight ago, he added: “My game’s good. There are a couple of things that I took from Abu Dhabi and worked on last week. So hopefully you’ll see my game just a little bit sharper, and obviously I want to try and win here again, for a third time, to join Ernie as the only other person to win here three times.”
Asked if anything other than victory would be a disappointment this week, the World No 2, replied: “Yes, it would be, of course. Leaving any tournament without a win is sort of disappointing. But if I was leaving here on Sunday night and I didn’t win, I’d be disappointed.”
McIlroy won the European Tour’s Race to Dubai with three wins and eight top 10 finishes in 12 appearances last season.
Usually European Tour players have to play at least 13 events before qualifying for the season’s overall prize, but McIlroy was granted an exemption on account of his recovery from an ankle injury sustained while playing football with friends in July.
The injury put him out of the Open Championship and left him flailing in the PGA Championship. It came as a massive setback especially as he already lost ground in the Majors earlier in the year when fast-rising American Jordan Spieth won both the Masters and the US Open to take McIlroy’s World No 1 spot.
However, this year he’s got a score to settle with Spieth not only in the world rankings but also in the Majors and the Ryder Cup — and winning the Desert Classic would provide the perfect early boost.
April’s Masters is the only one of four Majors missing in McIlroy’s trophy cabinet, and with six-time Major winner Lee Trevino recently saying that he thought McIlroy would win more than one Grand Slam in his career, the expectation is already mounting.
“It’s just words. It’s just someone giving their opinion,” he said of Trevino’s prediction. “But the difference between someone saying that and me actually going out and doing it are two entirely different things.
“I’d like to think that by the end of my career, I’ll hopefully have won each Major more than once. I don’t know if I’m going to do it. I hope I do. Trevino seems to think I will, so maybe I need to go and talk to him.
“I don’t think it [Trevino’s opinion] takes any pressure off going into Augusta. Of course, I want to win there one day, but I’ve hopefully got 20-plus years of giving it a go and hopefully by that 28th year, I’m not going for my first green jacket. Hopefully I’m going for my third or fourth.”
September’s Ryder Cup is another event where McIlroy and Spieth will inevitably lock horns. But McIlroy isn’t worried by America’s revival spearheaded by his 22-year-old adversary.
“They are a young and hungry team for a reason,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys on that team that haven’t tasted success at the Ryder Cup [America haven’t won since 2008]. This is going to be hopefully my fourth Ryder Cup, and I’m going for my fourth win in a row.
“They are motivated, hungry and I’m sure they don’t want to lose again. And you’ve got a lot of younger players who will make the team, the likes of Rickie [Fowler], Jordan, Patrick Reed, a few of the younger guys over there that really want to make the team.
“Especially with the backroom team that they look like they are going to have with Davis [Love III] being the captain, Tiger [Woods] and Phil [Mickelson] as vice-captains, they have got everything there possible to win it back. Then it’s up to us and up to all the people in Europe to try and prevent that.”
