Golfing royalty Rory McIlroy marking 20th anniversary of maiden appearance in Hero Dubai Desert Classic
He may have been playing with a Bahraini prince in the pro-am, but there is no hiding the fact that Rory McIlroy is golfing royalty when it comes to golf in Dubai.
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Holywood man’s first appearance in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club, where he’s claimed a record four title triumphs.
It’s where he traditionally starts a new calendar year and fans from all around the globe will be out in force once again on the Majlis Course over the next four days to see him in action.
On this occasion, of course, he’ll be making his first appearance in an event that was once dubbed the ‘Middle East Major’ as just the sixth golfer to complete a career grand slam.
“I love Dubai,” declared McIlroy during a visit to the media centre on Wednesday. “It holds so many great memories for me, first of which was coming here as a 16-year-old, and playing in the Dubai Desert Classic for the first time as an amateur, and I played twice as an amateur.
"In 2007, I made the cut, and that got me to world No 1 in the amateur rankings, and two years later, I won my first professional event here.
“So it's a lot of great memories. I've met a lot of great people along the way. Honestly, I've always felt like it was a perfect place to start the year.”
It was claimed that McIlroy was paid $1 million back in 2006 by Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts to become his first title sponsor. “I wish,” he replied, smiling. “First time I was here, I stayed in a Courtyard Marriott at the Green Community!”
It’s seven-star luxury these days, of course, and, during his numerous visits here over the years, McIlroy has enjoyed seeing golf go from strength to strength in Dubai in particular but also the UAE in general.
“I mean, golf has become such a big thing in this region, even playing with His Highness today, Sheikh Nasser [Al Khalifa], and talking about the development of golf in Bahrain.
“But certainly in the UAE and in Dubai, you just see the amount of kids that are out here watching the tournament year-in and year-out, and obviously the amount of amazing tournaments that come to Dubai.
“Obviously we played at the Creek last week (in the Dubai Invitational). We are here this week. We're in Abu Dhabi at the end of the year. We're at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
“So very, very high-level golf comes to this region very often and it's amazing to see the growth of the game here. I would say that's one of the biggest things, right.
“I think junior golf probably wasn't as big in this part of the world 20 years ago as it is now, and that's amazing. I got a chance to meet the two junior Desert Classic champions yesterday, and I think coming back to a place for so long and seeing the development of golf in this region has been amazing.”
McIlroy is out at 04:05 GMT in Thursday’s opening round with defending champion Tyrrell Hatton and world No 3 Tommy Fleetwood.
Fellow Holywood man Tom McKibbin is among 11 LIV Golf players in the field for the $9 million Rolex Series event.