Four-time Hero Dubai Desert Classic champ Rory McIlroy is competing for a 15th occasion in this week’s $9m Rolex Series of the stunning Emirates course here in the UAE.
Though it was a no frills first round, two-under-par 70 for the current World No. 3.
The effort, and is his 53rd round on the Majlis course, left him trailing five shots from the clubhouse lead as the afternoon half of the opening round draw were making their way to their back nines.
“Pretty scrappy, to say the least but then happy with how I managed my game and managed to get in at a couple under”, was McIlroy’s first words post his first 2025 tournament round.
DOES TW @TigerWoods KNOW ….
“Oh, yeah! TW knows. He knows. He just laughed”.
When @McIlroyRory first played @DubaiDCGolf ‘borrowed’ long lens, jumped inside the ropes & followed Woods
Read: https://t.co/9iMw9WYF2h
✅ @TOURMISS pic.twitter.com/2EmraSC6ms
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) January 16, 2025
“Actually I felt I played probably better the first eight holes where I was 1-over compared to the last ten where I was 3-under.
“Yeah, it was a bit scrappy but held together with some good chipping and putting especially over the inward holes. First competitive round of the year. First competitive round in a while. A little uncomfortable over some shots. Definitely not as comfortable as I was in practice and coming in here.
“But it’s nice to get a card in your hand. It sort of exposes the things that you need to work on. I got it around today. I got it around and got it in in a couple under, which is nice, and didn’t put myself out of the tournament, which is the main thing”.
After his TV commitments, McIlroy obliged by speaking to members of the written media and with GolfByTourMiss asking Rors, and in all the years he’s been coming to Dubai, how much has the course changed.
“The good thing is that this has stood the test of time very well while the changes they’ve made, and some of the little course set-up things that they’ve done have been good.
“I feel like since I first came here in 2006 the winning score was something like 19, 20, 21-under but then the last few years it’s been 13, 14 or 15-under, so the scoring has not been really that I feel is a good thing. So, the course has kept testing players and made the changes to keep-up with the modern game”.
And in mentioning 2006, the year marked McIlroy’s now infamous second round here in Dubai.
It was a fourth of eighth DP World Tour invitations he received as an amateur ahead of turning pro in September 2007 at the British Masters. McIlroy posted Dubai scores of a pair of 72s and was assured of missing the halfway cut.
He had been out early on day two and with teenage golfing hero Tiger Woods out on day two in the afternoon group. McIlroy was desperate not to leave the Emirates Club without getting-up close to Woods. With both sides of the fairways jammed tight with other spectators, McIlroy had no way of getting inside the ropes.
Well, not until he spotted an accredited photographer that led to McIlroy asking if he could help carry onto the photographers long lens. The photographer agreed and for the next few hours here was the sight of the a curly-haired 17-year walking inside the ropes following the World No. 1 ranked Woods.
GolfByTourMiss, and known to ask the hard questions, grabbed the chance today to ask a question of McIlroy that in nearly 20-years has not been asked of McIlroy, and who now is one of Woods’ closest golfing companions.
“Rors? Did you ever mention to Tiger what you had done back on that Friday here in Dubai back in 2006”?
McIlroy said: “Oh yeah. Tiger knows. He knows and he just laughed with told him”.