McIlroy will start his 2024 golf season in the Middle East as he will play in two DP World Tour events in January.
Rory McIlroy will begin his 2024 season overseas as he will play in back-to-back DP World Tour events in Dubai.
First up for McIlroy will be the inaugural Dubai Invitational. Then, the 24-time PGA Tour winner will eye another title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
“I’m really excited to start my year at the Dubai Invitational,” McIlroy said per Sky Sports. “I’ve always enjoyed coming back to Dubai to set up my season, and with a pro-am format, this tournament is going to be an enjoyable week.”
The Dubai Invitational will be a pro-am tournament and will begin Jan. 11 at the Dubai Creek Resort. This event will be played biennially—similar to the Ryder Cup—starting in 2024. But unlike the Ryder Cup, this tournament will be held in even years, meaning the second edition of this event will occur in 2026.
The field at the Dubai Invitational will consist of 60 DP World Tour pros and 60 amateur golfers.
“Dubai Creek Resort is a fantastic course, and given the support we get in Dubai from the fans, I’m sure they are going to make it another great week on the golfing calendar,” McIlroy added.
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Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
The following week, McIlroy will play in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club, where he has won three times. Should he go on to win in 2024, he would become the first four-time champion of this event.
Last year, the 34-year-old finished one stroke ahead of Patrick Reed to win the title.
The only other two players to have won this event multiple times are Ernie Els, who also has three victories at Emirates Golf Club, and Tiger Woods, who won it in 2006 and 2008. Els most recently won in 2005.
But with McIlroy committed to playing these first two DP World Tour events, he will have to skip the PGA Tour events scheduled for those weeks. Thus, McIlroy will not tee it up at the Sony Open in Honolulu or the American Express in Southern California.
Whether he will play at The Sentry at Kapalua, the first PGA Tour event of the 2024 season, remains to be seen. Should he skip that, he will likely make his 2024 PGA Tour debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the first Signature Event of the new season.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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