Dubai: With his first tournament in the bag, Rory McIlroy has made the short trip from Yas Links and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to go for a third Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic title at Emirates Golf Club.
The Northern Irishman is only 32, but has now played professional golf half his life and has fond memories of his time in Dubai, especially meeting a certain idol Tiger Woods when he first played here, and he is delighted to see the renovations around the Majlis Course to take the course back to its original splendour.
“This was one of the first big events I played back in 2006 as a 16-year-old,” McIlroy said after finishing his Pro-Am event at EGC on Wednesday. “The course hasn’t changed that much over the years, a tweak here and there. The greens seemed to get smaller and smaller each year so it is good to see them restored to get them back to their original shape.
“It’s a great golf course, a fun course to play. You know the scoring is going to be good and you have the three par-5s on the back nine. A couple of reachable fours. I think everyone enjoys coming back here.
“The trees grew up and things got a little more claustrophobic over the years. But they have take that out a bit again so it doesn’t feel as constricting. Even compared to Abu Dhabi last week where there was a lot of trouble on either side of the fairways. Now we have some opportunities to step up and give it a rip and see how it goes.”
McIlroy is happy with his game and delighted to be back in the UAE — a happy hunting ground for him, having won the Dubai Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championship twice. “I have a lot of good memories here, when I first came as an amateur I got to No. 1 on the amateur rankings,” he said. “I got my first win here in 2009 and I lived in Dubai for four years, so I have a lot of good memories and close friends here. It is great to be back once again.
“It was a good weekend last weekend. It was a disappointing finish but I played some good golf. I am still trying to find out a few things and it is still early in the year, so I am just trying to get into contention and hit some good shots this week.”
McIlroy famously snuck inside the ropes to watch Woods here back in 2006, and he had some advice to aspiring young golfers on whom to watch this week over the same course. “Me,” the Norther Irishman joked. “There are so many guys now, such as Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, and the others who have been part of the Tour for so long like Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson and — of course — Colin Montgomerie. I mean, how many more times will we get to see him playing in this part of the world?
Casting his mind back, McIlroy added: “I had a better view than most back in the day with a media credential to get inside the ropes and watch Tiger. To this day, I remember he hit a shot from the right rough on 10 and landed it smack on the green. Still one of the best shots I have ever seen. It sticks out in my mind.”
