McIlroy to give a miss to January’s Desert Swing

Rory McIlroy confirmed he is not going to play in next year’s Desert Swing, including the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and may not be a member of the European Tour next season as a result of scheduling changes.

The Northern Irishman is synonymous with the Dubai tournament at Emirates Golf Club given that the Majlis Course is where he made his first cut on the European Tour at the age of 17 in 2007 and won his first tournament two years later.

Sponsored by Dubai-based Jumeirah Group in those early days he went on to win the UAE’s flagship event again in 2015, and boasts a record of eight top 10 finishes in 11 appearances there since 2006, only skipping it twice in 2013 and 2017.

“The way the schedule has worked for next year, it’s going to be different for a lot of guys,” he said on the sidelines of this week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship yesterday. Everything is going to be so condensed between March and August, and that is why I am taking a big off-season to get myself ready and then go at it hard from March. After this tournament [the DP World Tour Championship], I’m going to play one tournament in 13 weeks.

“I’m going to Hawaii to play that first event of the year, the Tournament of Champions, and that’s really it,” he added, ruling himself out of the Desert Swing.

He later clarified he’d play in the European Masters in September because he’s obligated to play in one of the Omega sponsored events but wouldn’t play the Omega Desert Classic.

His indecision to take Tour membership may affect any future ambitions to become Ryder Cup captain as there is a new rule that states anyone who misses out on membership for one year cannot captain the team in the future. the final event again, and have a chance of winning the Race to Dubai, shows that you’ve played a lot of good golf.

“Hopefully, come the back nine on Sunday, I have a chance and I can give Frank something to think about.

“The math is pretty clear. It’s in Frank’s hands, but I’ll be playing as if it’s another start, just focusing on what we have to do to win and move on from there.

“It’s a massively tall order, but at the same time, if you’d said at the start of the season you need to win the last tournament to win the Race to Dubai, you’d say ‘yeah, OK’ and give it a go from there.

“I’ll play to win and see where I end up. There’s definitely a bigger element of freedom [in chasing]. Unless I have a three-shot lead going into the back nine on Sunday [and blow it], I can’t really lose anything. I either win or I don’t, and that’s pretty black and white this week.” ■