McIlroy reiterates importance of global view: "If golf doesn't do it now, I fear that it will never do it and we'll have this fractured landscape forever"

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the 8th tee during the pro-am as a preview for the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on January 17, 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy believes golf must embrace a global future or risk seeing the game “fractured” forever.

Just 24 hours after outgoing DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley said he wants to see “the game becoming unified with a global strategy,” McIlroy admitted that golf is now at a crossroads as the PGA TOUR, the DP World Tour, the PIF and the Strategic Sports Group negotiates the shape of things to come.

“So again, there's so much opportunity out there to go global with it, and I've said this for the last few months, but golf is at an inflexion point, and if golf doesn't do it now, I fear that it will never do it and we'll sort of have this fractured landscape forever,” McIlroy said ahead of his defence of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. “As I said I hope it all works out.”

Pelley pointed out to reporters in Dubai on Tuesday that golf’s leaders must start to look at the game globally.

“The PGA Tour is coming to the realisation that ‘globality’ is the key for growth,” Pelley said. “They have heard me say it once or twice. We've talked about a lot of different scenarios and different concepts. At the end of the day, the consumer, the partners.

“How we execute that is to be determined. Every possibility is on the table.”

McIlroy’s decision to resign from the PGA TOUR policy board means he will have little say in shaping the future.

But he remains convinced that a global schedule, featuring the best national opens around the globe, is the way to go.

“I think Keith was saying to you guys yesterday, I think the opportunity here is global, and I think you'd be very naïve to not think that way,” McIlroy said.

“Especially if you see, you know, even you look at the event at Kapalua a couple of weeks ago, which is supposed to be one of the big signature events and you see the ratings that that did on TV, it's not -- you know, I would say they were quite underwhelming compared to some of the other events.

“I think the opportunity here is global. Look, they are still massive events in America and I think they have huge history and tradition and they need to be kept.

“But there's a lot of opportunity elsewhere, and I think with Adam (Scott) being on the board and seeing maybe the bigger picture of things, I think that's a good thing.”

McIlroy sees the changing media landscape as key to finding a solution in a world where golf no longer has a footprint on terrestrial TV, as evidenced by McIlroy’s failure to make an impact in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year vote.

“I think legacy media is not what it once was,” he said. “Terrestrial TV, print media, no offence but we are transitioning into a different world and I think people just consume their content differently than they once did.

“They want things on their phone. They want things on their iPads. It's just different. The consumer now compared to the consumer 20 years ago is just very, very different.”

He added: “I think what we need to do first is align interests, align interests of the players and the business and the fans and the media and try to get everyone's interests aligned. And then once you do that, then you can move forward.

“So it's the aligning of interests, which is the big key to trying to get to that dream scenario.”

Just don’t expect Mcllroy to get involved.

“I’m done with that,” he said, explaining that he now has no more to dedicate to his game.

Twelve months ago he overcame rival Patrick Reed after a week that began with the tee-gate controversy.

But he arrives at the tournament believing he got some of the rust out of his system in losing out to Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational on Sunday when he three-putted from two feet coming down the stretch and found water at the last.

“I hope so,” McIlroy said. “I'd like to think so. When did the Ryder Cup end, the 1st of October? From the 1st of October until whatever that was, the 12th or 13th of January, I only played four competitive rounds of golf. And those four competitive rounds in Dubai at the end of last year, I wouldn't say I was 100 per cent motivated.

“I feel like I've had a three-month off-season, basically. So I think once -- you're going to come back and play. 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.” On the PGA Tour, Shane Lowry will get his 2024 season underway alongside former PGA Championship winner Jason Day in The American Express at Quinta Country Club.

The Offaly man (36) will be making his debut in the event rather than joining McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Tom McKibbin in Dubai as he finished 78th in the FedEx Cup standings last season and needs to hit the ground running as he looks to secure spots in the big Signature Events this term.

While The American Express is not a Signature Event, it has still attracted 12 of the world’s top 30, headed by world number one Scottie Scheffler, his Ryder Cup teammates Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay and former Ryder Cup star Daniel Berger, who makes his first start since 2022 after missing the last 18 months with a back injury.

It’s also the first outing of the season for Leona Maguire (29), who tees it up in a 36-strong field at the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona.

The field is limited to winners from 2022 and 2023 and the Co Cavan star, who won her second LPGA Tour title last year, has a stellar draw alongside world number one Lilia Vu.

It’s a no-cut event with Maguire and Vu paired with Brian Baumgartner, better known for playing Kevin Malone in the US version of The Office, for the Modified Stableford celebrity event which runs concurrently with the main event.