Dubai becomes DP World Tour’s second home as McIlroy and Rahm handed perfect spot for reunion
Dubai becomes DP World Tour’s second home as McIlroy and Rahm handed perfect spot for reunion
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The DP World Tour have once again started their calendar year out in Dubai, with one of their marquee events in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic taking place at Emirates Golf Club. The event in Dubai has become a staple of the Tour calendar, ever since it became the first tournament on the circuit to be played outside of Europe in 1988. Since then, the host city and the tournament has come a long way, with its Rolex Series status showing its importance to the DP World Tour.
The event has as good a past-champion list as any with Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Fred Couples, Colin Montgomerie, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy all successful around the Majlis. McIlroy has become the most recognisable name in golf in recent years, and there are not many more tournaments in the world that have as a good a connection with the four-time winner. The first of his 41 professional wins came at the Desert Classic back in 2009, and since then three more have followed, including back-to-back victories in 2023 and 2024.
With the ever-growing dominance of golf over on the United States and the PGA Tour, having a name like McIlroy at Emirates Golf Club week-in-week-out is huge for the event. “It is fantastic that Rory plays," tournament director Simon Corkill told Mirror Sport.
"We can’t take him for granted, he said a few months ago that he was going to reduce his schedule, but the great advantage we have is he played here as an amateur, won his first professional tournament here and is now going for a record-breaking week.".
