DP World Tour appearances remind Rory McIlroy of 'good old days in golf'

The world number three was speaking at the end of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, having also played in the Amgen Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship on this side of the Atlantic after the finish of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Play-Offs.

“I’ve loved them, absolutely loved them,” said McIlroy of his three appearances on the circuit where he started his professional career. “I appreciate them more as I get older, yeah.

“I did an interview last week and I said that one thing that I love when I come back here is the tournaments just feel a little more authentic and pure and not as corporate and I really like that.

“In a way, it brings me back to the amateur days, when you are not playing for anything more than pride or vouchers in the pro shop or whatever.

“I think as well the crowds at the Irish Open (at Royal County Down)and Wentworth (venue for the BMW PGA Championship), even here as well, honestly compared to the three FedEx Cup Play-Offs events, they were bigger and the atmosphere was better.”

Fourteen LIV Golf players, led by Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, were in the field for this year’s Dunhill Links at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews while McIlroy was joined in flying the PGA Tour/DP World Tour flag by the likes of Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Bob MacIntyre.

“Exactly,” replied McIlroy to being asked if it was a taste of what might be in store for the game at the other side on ongoing talks between the two traditional tours and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. “I am really proud of my record in national Opens.

"If you could do something where you could prioritise those and stand those up, I think that would be really cool and get us back to the good old days.

“I regard my Australian Open win as one of the best victories of my career. Adam Scott was the Masters champion in 2013. I hadn’t had a great year. It was my last chance to get a win and I did.

“I went down there and played all four rounds with him and pipped him. That gave me a huge boost of confidence going into 2014. It was a great platform to build on.

“Even getting beaten in a play-off by Graeme Storm for the South African Open in 2017 was big. The national Opens provide unbelievable experiences with great crowds. The atmosphere is amazing. To get a little bit more of that would be great.”

McIlroy, who holds a healthy lead in the Race to Dubai rankings as he bids to claim that title for a third year running and sixth time in total, signed off with a 68 at St Andrews to finish with a 14 under total, which was set to see him end up in the top 30.

“Not much after last night at the party (where the whole room sang happy birthday to his dad Gerry on Saturday night), but all good,” he replied to being asked if he still had gas left in the tank at the end of the week. “A cold shower and a couple of double Espressos got me going.

“It’s a funny week. Obviously the courses have been playing pretty easy and the weather has been good. You go out and shoot four rounds in the 60s and you are probably not cracking the top 30 or wherever I am going to be. It’s one of those weeks.

“But it’s been an enjoyable week. Yeah, look, one eye was on trying to play well but, at the same time, I look around and Triston Lawrence didn’t play great or Rasmus [Hojgaard], so I haven’t done any damage with my lead in the Race to Dubai.

“I am in a really good position going into my last two events (the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship). I’ll rest and get some work in Florida before I head over there in November.”

McIlroy will move level with Seve Ballesteros if he can land a sixth Harry Vardon Trophy. “Yeah, it’s the only thing to play for now this year,” he said. “So, yeah, it is a big priority and I am really proud of my record in it and proud that I am going for my sixth win.

“I like going to Dubai with a chance to do that and Dubai is one of my favourite places to play golf - a lot of good memories there. So I want to try to finish the season off on a high note.”

Is Colin Montgomerie’s record of being crowned No 1 eight times in his sights? “Maybe, yeah,” he said with a smile. “Obviously I’ll probably never do the seven in a row he did, but the eight total? If I keep playing well and I keep prioritising. I think that’s the thing. I’ve really tried to prioritise it the last few years.

“There was probably a period there of maybe five years where I didn’t prioritise it as much and maybe didn’t play enough golf needed to accumulate the points and give myself a chance.

“But I think over the last few years one of my goals has been to try to win both sides of the Atlantic. It’s getting harder and harder as I get older and older and don’t want to keep going back and forth as much. But, at the same time, I know that I still have the capabilities to do it so while I still have them I may as well try.”

McIlroy will have played 27 events this year by the time he’s finished with the double-header in the UAE while he’s also joining forces with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler in a TV match against Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

“I’ve still got things going on,” he said. “I’m going to NZ for a golf trip in December, too. So it’s time off but I’m still keeping busy. It’ll be nice to have some time to do the things I’m interested in.”

Pressed on his visit to New Zealand, he added: “I want to go down there and play Tara Iit and Te Ari. I have a friend that has a house down there. A group of us are going down for five days. I played there in the Bonallack Trophy in 2006. But I haven’t been back since.”