Tag: Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Rory McIlroy makes DP World Tour history with 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic win

McIlroy is the tour’s first four-time winner of the event, having done so in 2009, 2015, 2023 and 2024.

Rory McIlroy defended his title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and made a little history, too.

The 34-year-old Northern Irishman won the event for a fourth time on Sunday at Emirates Golf Club in the UAE, the first to do so in DP World Tour history.

McIlroy was 10 shots back entering Saturday’s third round before a 9-under 63 vaulted him into the final group Sunday. Two shots back to start the final round, the 17-time DP World Tour winner made three birdies on his front nine and held on to win by one shot at 14 under despite just one bogey on the round at the par-5 13th, his lone bogey of the weekend and first since the 11th hole on Friday.

“It’s a great start to the season,” said McIlroy who finished runner-up at last week’s Dubai Invitational. “I started well last year with the win here. A couple of little things still to work on but these weeks are great. You learn a ton from them and obviously great to get the competition and come out on top as well.”

“I thought on Friday night, I thought ten under for the weekend, I would have a really good chance to win,” he continued. “I shot (11 under) and ended up winning by one.”

If you’re keeping track at home, that’s now six wins in Dubai for McIlroy, where he’s adored by the fans.

“I’ve played the game long enough to sort of know how these things are going to go. Thankfully I played the golf I needed to and it’s just incredible to get my fourth win here at the Emirates.”

Adrian Meronk (71) finished runner-up at 13 under, while Cameron Young (74) came in third at 12 under. Pablo Larrazabal shot the low round of the day, a 6-under 66, to finish T-4 at 10 under alongside Aaron Cockerill (68) and Joaquin Niemann (70).

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Rory McIlroy charges with 63, only two back of leader Cameron Young at Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Rory McIlroy’s round was the best of the day… by four shots. 

Rory McIlroy started the day 10 shots behind leader Cameron Young.

With 18 holes left at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club, McIlroy trails by only two. He shot 9-under 63 in the third round Saturday, moving into a tie for second at 12-under alongside Adrian Meronk.

McIlroy’s round was the best of the day… by four shots. His best shot was his last, an eagle putt from the fringe on the par-5 18th.

“I was walking up with the putter in my hand, and as I got closer to the ball, I saw that there was a lot of fringe to go through,” McIlroy said. “And I said to Harry, like I sort of want to chip it but the lie wasn’t great. I could just see the club bouncing. I was like, I’ll just sort of, I guess, ride my luck with the putter, and it came out perfectly. And as soon as it got on the green, it actually wasn’t as fast as I thought it was going to be once it got on the green. And it was tracking perfectly. Obviously a huge bonus for something like that to go in.

“But you know, for the rest of the day, I played some very, very good golf. Definitely better than I played the last couple of days and nice to get myself right back in the tournament.”

McIlroy went out in 5-under 30 before adding two more birdies and the eagle on the back nine.

McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic last year and has had plenty of success playing all over the world thanks to his incredible consistency. What is he most proud of during that time?

“I think the fact that I turn up every day still trying to get better,” McIlroy said. “I think the consistency that I’ve shown throughout my career, I’ve never lost the hunger to go out and play better. But I’ve also never lost the joy of the game, which I think is really, really important. It’s never felt like a job to me, and the day it does feel like a job is the day I need to give up.”

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates after an eagle putt on the 18th green during Round Three of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on January 20, 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Young, who held a three-shot lead heading into the day, had his most up-and-down day of the tournament yet. After an 8-under round on Friday, he shot 1 under on Saturday in a round that includes four birdies, a bogey and a double.

“The front nine, especially, is kind of one of those days when a few things don’t quite go your way,” Young said. “I didn’t putt quite as well as I have the last few days, and with a little bit more wind, it wasn’t that easy. I think all in all, it was a good battle. And not obviously trying to be winning by ten after today, but two is better than none.”

Behind nine birdies, Cameron Young takes three-shot lead into weekend at Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Cameron Young is hitting bombs and dropping putts.

After two rounds at Emirates Golf Club, it doesn’t look like it’s Cameron Young’s first time at the course.

The American fired the round of the tournament Friday in Dubai, shooting 8-under 64 to take a three-shot lead heading into the weekend. Young had nine birdies and one bogey on his card and sits at 13 under in his Rolex Series event debut.

“I putted fantastic,” Young said. “I made a couple long ones yesterday and then made a few more today that those had no right going in I feel like. I hit a bunch of good putts but just one of those days where you kind of have a couple 30-footers and you look up and they are going right in the middle, which doesn’t happen all that often to have a bunch of them in one round. But really nicely and putted great.”

Young leads by three over Adrian Meronk, who Wednesday won the Seve Ballesteros Award as the DP World Tour’s Player of the Year for 2023, and Andy Sullivan.

Young had four straight birdies on Nos. 16-18 and No. 1 (he started on No. 10) and also added a pair of circles as Nos. 3-4 for six in seven holes. He bogeyed his closing hole, the par-4 ninth, his second 5 on the hole in as many days.

Tommy Fleetwood, who won last week, is T-15 at 5 under. Rory McIlroy sits T-25 at 3 under.

It was also a special round for European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, as he aced the par-3 fourth hole on Friday.

The victorious captain from 2023 and future captain for 2025 sits at 2 under for the tournament.

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Rory McIlroy recounts battle with Patrick Reed at Hero Dubai Desert Classic: ‘Had to be him’

“I think Patrick had just made eagle and I’m just like ‘Had to be him.'”

Last year was a battle between old foes — a challenge Rory McIlroy looks back on fondly.

The Northern Irishman and Ryder Cup rival Patrick Reed were once again in the midst of a showdown, this time at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Punches were thrown, rebuttals came frequently, and the trophy came down to the final hole.

After he was forced to lay up on the closing par 5, McIlroy hit his third to makeable range. Once the winning putt fell, McIlroy’s celebration showed the importance of the day.

“I think mentally today was probably one of the toughest rounds I’ve ever had to play because it would be really easy to let your emotions get in the way and I just had to really concentrate on focusing on myself,” said McIlroy afterward. “Forget who was up there on the leaderboard, and I did that really, really well.”

Hero Dubai Desert Classic
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates after holing the winning putt on the 18th green during the final round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on January 30, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

On Wednesday, McIlroy was asked to recount the moment.

“What I remember, I remember standing on the 10th tee and I think Patrick had just made eagle and I’m just like (dropping head), ‘Had to be him.’

“But I think just the sort of mental fortitude I showed on that back nine to not sort of let my emotions get the better of me and really stay focused, and yeah, just to make that birdie on the last to win by one, yeah, it meant — in the grand scheme of things, are people going to remember my third Dubai Desert Classic, I don’t know.

“But it meant a lot to me. I felt like I came through a bit of, not adversity, but I really just had to control my mind and my thoughts and my emotions on that back nine. I felt like I did a really golf club of that.”

Dubai Desert Classic: Photos

At a golf course where McIlroy owns an impressive course history — 3rd in 2022 on top of his wins in ’23, ’15 and ’09— it’s easy to see why he’s the favorite in ’24, especially when you account for his runner-up finish last week to Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational.

Before his solo second, McIlroy has played competitively just once since the Ryder Cup, the DP World Tour Championship in November, a tournament McIlroy admits he wasn’t “100 percent motivated.” (McIlroy had already locked up the season-long points title.)

“I feel like I’ve had a three-month off-season, basically. So I think once — you’re going to come back and play,” he said. “You’re going to make some of those mistakes early on, and you know, it’s good to play an event like last week where you can learn from them and try to put those things right this week.

“And in the bigger scheme of things, you know, with this being a Rolex Series Event and the success that I’ve had here, look, I would have loved to have won last week.

“But even with all those mistakes I made, the fact that I still had a one-shot lead going down the last, you know, it says to me that my game is in really good shape, and I should be quite excited for this week.”

After his title defense in Dubai, McIlroy is headed to the States for the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the second signature event of the season.

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After back injury, top amateur Michael Thorbjornsen set to return at Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Thorbjornsen competed at the Dubai Desert Classic last year and finished T-20.

Michael Thorbjornsen, one of the best players in amateur golf, is set to make his return this week after an extended layoff because of a back injury.

The senior at Stanford will tee it up this week at the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, his first start since last summer at the Western Amateur, where he was one of 16 golfers to make match play. A week before the U.S. Amateur last August, Thorbjornsen announced he would miss the competition, as well as the Walker Cup, because of a stress fracture in his back.

Ranked fourth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Thorbjornsen received the exemption into the Dubai Desert Classic thanks to his ranking in the PGA Tour University standings. As the No. 1 player, he received an exemption into the field and will play alongside stars like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and others at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Dubai Desert Classic: Photos

Last summer, he made four professional starts, including his third at the U.S. Open. He missed three cuts but finished T-17 at the John Deere Classic. Thorbjornsen also finished fourth at the 2022 Travelers Championship.

He competed at the Dubai Desert Classic last year and finished T-20, including a 64 in the third round. This is the third year the tournament has offered an exemption to the top player in the PGA Tour University rankings, with Sam Bennett (2022) and Ludvig Aberg (2023) earning the spots the previous two years.

As a junior, Thorbjornsen won the Fighting Illini Invitational and Pac-12 Championship. He was also tabbed 2023 Pac-12 Golfer of the Year and earned Golfweek First Team All-America honors.

Photos: Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and other stars at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic

The field in Dubai is loaded.

The DP World Tour is in Dubai for the second week in a row, this time for the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates GC. Defending champion Rory McIlroy headlines the stacked field, and he’ll be joined by Tommy Fleetwood, last week’s winner at the Dubai Invitational (McIlroy finished runner-up).

Other names in the field include Champion Golfer of the Year Brian Harman, Adam Scott, Nicolai Hojgaard, Cameron Young and LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann.

On the betting side, McIlroy is the favorite at +260, followed by Tyrrell Hatton at 10/1 and Tommy Fleetwood at 11/1.

Here are some of the best photos from the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Dubai Desert Classic: Leaderboard

Rory McIlroy beats Patrick Reed by one at Hero Dubai Desert Classic after ‘one of the toughest rounds I’ve ever had to play’

“I’m going to enjoy this. This is probably sweeter than it should be or needs to be,” said McIlroy.

The final round of the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic was a perfect encapsulation of the week that was at Emirates Golf Club: a battle between Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed.

After an overblown incident on the range earlier in the week where Reed tossed a LIV Golf tee McIlroy’s way, the two found themselves in a duel down the stretch on Monday that lasted until the 72nd hole.

Reed began the day four shots behind McIlroy but got in the mix thanks to five birdies and an eagle over his first 13 holes. The American made a costly bogey on the par-4 16th but birdied the last to tie McIlroy, who was slow to start, at 18 under. McIlroy made par on his opening eight holes before adding birdies on Nos. 9, 10 and 13. The world No. 1’s lone blemish of the day came on No. 15, but McIlroy rebounded with two clutch birdies on his final two holes to secure the one-shot win at 19 under.

“I think mentally today was probably one of the toughest rounds I’ve ever had to play because it would be really easy to let your emotions get in the way and I just had to really concentrate on focusing on myself,” said McIlroy, who praised his mental strength. “Forget who was up there on the leaderboard, and I did that really, really well.”

“I’m going to enjoy this. This is probably sweeter than it should be or needs to be but I feel like I’ve still got some stuff to work on,” he added. “It’s a great start to the year and a really good foundation to work from.”

The win was McIlroy’s third Dubai Desert Classic title, but it also came with a few career firsts. Now a 15-time winner on the DP World Tour, this week’s victory was not only the first Rolex Series win for McIlroy, but the first time he’s ever won his opening tournament of a new year.

After turning professional in 2007, McIlroy was 0-16 with 12 top-five finishes in his first start of a new year.

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“Just ecstatic that I gave myself an opportunity the first week back out,” said McIlroy. “I definitely feel like there’s tons of room for improvement but it’s a great start to the year.”

McIlroy will tell you he hasn’t had his A-game in the bag by his standards, but the Northern Irishman entered the week on a hot run of form. Dating back to his Tour Championship win in October, McIlroy now hasn’t finished worse than T-4 over his last seven starts.

“I think again the most satisfying thing to me this week is I haven’t had my best, far from it and to be able to win when you don’t have your best, that’s the sort of like Holy Grail of what we are trying to do,” he said.

McIlroy shot rounds of 66-70-65-68 and made just five bogeys in Dubai. If more is to come for the reigning FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai champion, get ready for a wild 2023.

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Rory McIlroy has chance to accomplish a career first as Dubai event goes to Monday finish

McIlroy’s impressive run of form could lead him to a memorable win.

It’s not often that Rory McIlroy gets to cross something off his professional golf bucket list.

After all the current world No. 1 owns 35 professional wins –  including four major championships – and is the face of the European Ryder Cup team. He’s claimed the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup three times and the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai four times. Player of the Year and money list awards? He’s got those, too.

All that said, after three rounds in Dubai, McIlroy has a chance to accomplish a career first. Weather pushed this week’s 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic to a Monday finish, and with just 18 holes left the Northern Irishman finds himself at the top of the leaderboard with a three-shot advantage over Callum Shinkwin and Dan Bradbury (T-2, 12 under).

“I love this golf course. I love this tournament,” said McIlroy of Emirates Golf Club. “I’ve won here a couple of times. This is my first start of the year. I don’t think I’ve ever won in my first start of the year. I had plenty of chances at Abu Dhabi down the road over the years, and never quite got it done. So tomorrow is a nice opportunity to try to do something that I’ve never done before.”

He’s correct. McIlroy turned professional in 2007 and while he’s never won his first start of the new year, he’s logged 12 top-five finishes over the last 16 years (nine in Abu Dhabi).

Dating back to his Tour Championship win in October, McIlroy hasn’t finished worse than T-4 over his last six starts. After an overblown incident on the range with Patrick Reed to start the week, McIlroy now has a chance to end it on a high note.

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Patrick Reed defends ruling after his ball got stuck in a tree in Dubai

At first it was a tee, now it’s a tree.

At first it was a tee, now it’s a tree.

It’s been a tough few days online for Patrick Reed. Social media erupted after he tossed a tee Rory McIlroy’s way on the driving range before this week’s DP World Tour stop at the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic. During Sunday’s third round – early-week weather has forced a Monday finish at Emirates Golf Club – Reed found himself in the spotlight once again after a wayward drive on par-4 17th hole.

Reed said he was “100 percent certain” his ball had landed in a tree and got stuck. From here he took a drop, scrambled for bogey, then made birdie on the par-5 18th to sign for a 3-under 69 to reach 11 under for the tournament, four shots off the leader McIlroy.

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A golf coach shared video of the drive on Twitter, which called into question whether or not Reed identified the proper ball. If he wasn’t able to identify his ball in the tree and prove it was stuck, Reed would have been forced to walk back and play his third shot form the tee after taking a stroke-and-distance penalty.

“I would have gone back to the tee if I wasn’t 100 percent… I got lucky that we were able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it’s your ball and how I mark my golf balls is I always put an arrow on the end of my line, because the Pro VI the arrow on the end stop before it so you can see the arrow,” Reed explained to Telegraph Sport. “And you could definitely see and identify the line with the arrow on the end, and the rules official, luckily, was there to reconfirm and check it to make sure it was mine as well.”

“The only other time I’ve ever been in a tree was in Malaysia. Actually there’s a picture of (Sergio Garcia) and I underneath (caddie Kessler Karain). He’s up literally in the palm tree looking at my golf ball,” Reed added. “You know what, I hit that tee shot, I didn’t even see those palms. I felt like it was on a good line, just left of the green and I guess I just need to be a little more right or a little higher.”

Patrick Reed
Patrick Reed’s caddie climbs over a palm tree to recover the golf ball on the 10th hole during day 2 of the 2014 CIMB Classic at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club on October 31, 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images)

“During round three of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, two on-course referees and several marshals identified that Patrick Reed’s ball had become lodged in a specific tree following his tee shot on 17,” said the DP World Tour via a statement. “The DP World Tour chief referee joined the player in the area and asked him to identify his distinctive ball markings. Using binoculars, the chief referee was satisfied that a ball with those markings was lodged in the tree. The player subsequently took an unplayable penalty drop (Rule 19.2c) at the point directly below the ball on the ground. To clarify, the player was not asked to specify the tree but to identify his distinctive ball markings to confirm it was his ball.”

Almost two years ago to the day, Reed was the center of attention for a rules incident at the Farmers Insurance Open, which followed a two-stroke penalty at the 2019 Hero World Challenge.

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Patrick Reed contending early in Dubai after rain-delayed start and Rory McIlroy tee incident

Overnight rains delayed the start of the event. Only 12 players managed to complete their first rounds.

Patrick Reed knows how to compete amid controversy, and he proved so again on Thursday.

The 32-year-old’s name is often in the headlines due to his own actions (or those of his lawyer) and this week at the DP World Tour’s 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic is the latest example.

After overnight rain delayed tee times for six hours and five minutes on Thursday, just 12 players completed their first rounds before daylight ran out. Currently through 16 holes, Reed finds himself in a six-way tie for second at 4 under, one shot behind Thomas Pieters, who has played 15 holes.

Social media erupted earlier in the week due to an incident that occurred when Reed approached world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and his caddie, Harry Diamond, on the range. Reed and Diamond shook hands, but McIlroy failed to acknowledge Reed, who tossed a LIV Golf tee McIlroy’s way as he turned to leave.

“Since my tees are ‘Team Aces LIV’ tees I flicked him one,” Reed told the Daily Mail on Wednesday. “It was kind of a funny shot back. Funny how a small little flick has turned into basically me stabbing him and throwing a tee at him.”

“But it is one of those things,” Reed continued, ” if you’re going to act like an immature little child then you might as well be treated like one.”

“I was subpoenaed by his lawyer on Christmas Eve. So of course, trying to have a nice time with my family and someone shows up on your doorstep and delivers that, you’re not going to take that well,” explained McIlroy. “So again, I’m living in reality, I don’t know where he’s living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t expect a hello or a handshake.”

McIlroy is currently T-12 at 2 under through 15 holes. The two were scheduled to tee off at the same time on Thursday, though on different holes. Fingers crossed for a weekend pairing.

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