If the geopolitical world is encountering its own turbulence, the world of golf – for the main part – has started to find some equilibrium with Rory McIlroy providing some words of wisdom in urging his Europe Ryder Cup colleagues Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to pay any due fines to the DP World Tour in enabling greater stability going forward.
McIlroy – who is competing in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club in the UAE, some 20 years after he first played in the tournament as an amateur on a sponsor’s invitation – acknowledged that the different tours, primarily the DP World Tour’s and the PGA Tour’s ongoing differences with LIV, have some way to go to find a sure-fire solution to any reunification.
“I don’t see a world where the two or three sides or whoever it is will give up enough. Like for reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won. I think they are just too far apart for that to happen ... I just don’t see a world where it can happen at this point,” said McIlroy.
But McIlroy, the world number two, advocated the payment of any fines due by Rahm and Hatton to the DP World Tour to enable them play in future Ryder Cups – with the legal process ongoing on that particular issue – would send out a positive message.
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As McIlroy put it of that gesture being in the hands of Rahm and Hatton, “Look, this is my opinion. We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup, and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups. There’s two guys that can prove it.”
On the bigger picture of reunification, which would appear remote even with Brooks Koepka’s return from LIV to the PGA Tour, McIlroy reiterated a desire to find a way for the world’s top players to compete more often outside of the four majors:
“Golf would be better served if all the best players in the world played together a little more often than they do. You know, we’re really only seeing that four times a year at the Major championships. But you’re talking about a handful of guys that are missing, say, a Players Championship or some of the other bigger tournaments in the world. I’d like to see the best players play together maybe 10 times a year instead of four times a year.”
For this week, McIlroy is back on familiar terrain having won the Desert Classic on four occasions, looking to back up a solid tied-third place start to his season in the Dubai Invitational last week, but also looking ahead to future career boxes to tick following his achievement of winning the Masters last season to complete the career Grand Slam.
Of those future career goals, McIlroy responded: “An Olympic medal. The Open at St Andrews ... and maybe a US Open at one of those old, traditional golf courses whether it’s Shinnecock this year or Winged Foot or Pebble Beach, [or] Merion. I would say those but when you keep doing things, the goal goalposts moving and you just keep finding new things that you want to do.”
McIlroy – who has added new driver, irons and golf ball to his bag for the season – has also sought to embrace the joy of playing rather than tour life being a grind: “I think I need to show up at tournaments with enthusiasm every single time, feeling like I’m at a tournament because I’m obligated or have to be there but because I want to be there.
“I’ve been coming here [to Dubai] for 20 years. You just think about the amount of balls that I’ve hit and the amount of time I’ve spent on the range on my own. That starts to get tedious 20 years into a career. So, it’s like trying to find the joy in that.
“What I really found joy in I feel like at home is playing golf. I definitely spend more time on the golf course than on the practice range nowadays, and that’s something I’ve started to really, really enjoy. It’s basically not make it feel like a job, you know.”
Lowdowns
Hero Dubai Desert Classic
Purse: €8.3 million (€1.45 million to the winner).
Where: Dubai, UAE.
The course: The Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club – 7,428 yards, par 72 – was the first grass course built in the Middle East, designed by Karl Litten. In recent years, a major renovation of the green complexes has increased the size of the putting surfaces by an average 33 per cent in returning them to their original state and also bringing the greenside bunkers more into play.
The field: Word number two Rory McIlroy – chasing a fifth Dubai Desert Classic title – is the headline act in a very strong field that also features a number of the breakaway LIV players (Patrick Reed, Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin included) for the second of a two-week stretch in the emirate. Spain’s Nacho Elvira won last week’s Dubai Invitational.
Quote-Unquote: “I would hate seeing my swing on video. I think it looks disgusting. I don’t really look at stats. I don’t look at what areas of the game I need improve on.” – defending champion Tyrrell Hatton replying to a query as to his use of AI to analyse his swing and data.
Irish in the field: McIlroy is with Ryder Cup team-mates Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood (off the 10th at 4.05am Irish time); Shane Lowry – looking to bounce back after letting the Dubai Invitational slip from his grasp with a double-bogey finish on the 72nd hole – is grouped with Ryan Fox and Nicolai Hojgaard (off the 10th at 4.15am Irish time); Tom McKibbin and Pádraig Harrington are in the same group along with Eugenio Chacarra (off the 1st, 8.05am Irish time).
Betting: McIlroy knows this course like the back of his hand and unsurprisingly is a short priced 7-2 favourite as he goes for a fifth title at this tournament with Fleetwood rated 8-1 and defending champion Hatton priced at 16-1. Lowry doesn’t historically have a great record on this course and is rated an 18-1 chance. Better value can be found with the 60-1 tag on Thriston Lawrence while Oliver Lindell is worth an each-way look at 70-1.
On TV: Sky Sports, live coverage from 7.30am.
American Express Championship
Purse: €7.85 million (€1.4 million to the winner).
Where: California.
The courses: There are three courses used for the first three rounds of the pro-am format – the PGA West Stadium Course, La Quinta Country Club and PGA West Nicklaus Course – which traditionally see low scoring from the professionals. The Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course – 7,147 yards, par 72 – will play host to the final round.
The field: Headed by world number one Scottie Scheffler, the strong field features eight of the leading 13 players on the official world rankings. There is a very strong European flavour to the field, with defending champion Sepp Straka, Justin Rose and Bob MacIntyre joined by debutants Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick. There is also a notable return to tournament action for Will Zalatoris, who has been sidelined since the US PGA last May and who has recovered from back surgery.
Irish in the field: Séamus Power is the lone Irish player in the field, paired with Tyler Moore (Stadium Course at 5.03pm Irish time).
Quote-Unquote: “I definitely don’t show up to tournaments trying to get my game into shape. I like to be prepared, and that’s something that I pride myself on … it’s different being in competition I think than practicing at home. You can do your best to simulate it, but I don’t think there’s anything like coming out here and playing and posting a 72-hole score.” – Scottie Scheffler on getting his new season up and running after the winter offseason.
Betting: Scheffler heads the market as a hot 3-1 favourite with Russell Henley, Ben Griffin and MacIntyre all priced at 22-1. Patrick Cantlay has good form in the desert and is well-priced at 28s while Power is 125-1. Rose is worth an each-way look at 70-1.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports Golf from 4.30pm.
