McIlroy grinds out 70 to match McKibbin and Harrington in Dubai
David Ford of The United States plays his tee shot on the fifth hole during the first round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on January 16, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy was pleased not play his way out of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic after chiselling out a 70 that left him tied with LIV target Tom McKibbin and veteran Padraig Harrington.
The rusty World number three made two birdies and two bogeys in the back nine before following a birdie four at the second with a chip in birdie at the seventh.
At two-under, the four time champion was five shots behind American amateur David Ford, Portugal’s Ricardo Gouivea and Australian David Micheluzzi who shot 65s to head Italy’s Guido Miggliozzi by a shot
“Yeah, pretty scrappy,” said McIlroy who is chasing a record fifth win at the Emirates Golf Club and his third in a row. “Actually I felt I played probably better the first eight holes where I was one-over compared to the last ten where I was three-under.
“Yeah, it was a bit scrappy. First competitive round of the year. First competitive round in a while. A little uncomfortable over some shots. Definitely not as comfortable as I was in practise and coming in here. But it's nice to get a card in your hand. It sort of exposes the things that you need to work on.
“I got it around today. I got it around and got it in in a couple under, which is nice, and didn't put myself out of the tournament, which is the main thing.”
McKibbin, who has been advised by McIlroy not to sign for Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team at LIV Golf, was four under and bogey free until he made a double bogey six at the 480-yard 14th.
The Holywood star followed birdies the 11th, 16th and 18th with another birdie at the first but found rough at the 14th and bunkered his third before taking three more to get down.
Harrington (53) also started on the back nine but after birdies at the 10th, 13th and 18th,he followed eight straight pars with a bogey at the ninth, where he he missed a two footer after a 60 foot lag putt from the fringe
McIlroy revealed he'd made some changes to his bag set up in the off season, especially with his wedges.
“I did a good job of scrambling today. I made a lot of key up-and-downs.,” he said. “Bonus of a chip-in on 7. But I don't want to have to rely on my short game the rest of the week like I did today.
“I've been messing around a little bit in the off-season. I actually went with two degrees more loft with the lob wedge, so I went to a 61-degree lob-wedge instead of a 59, which definitely makes the short-sided shots a little bit easier, and it was nice to see that a little bit today.”
Ford, who earned his tournament invite after topping the PGA TOUR University Ranking, eagled the tenth – his first hole of the day – and mixed six birdies with a single bogey.
Currently sixth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, the 2023 Walker Cup winner insisted hie came into the week with minimal expectations.
Meanwhile, Micheluzzi had seven birdies in a flawless opening round – a remarkable achievement given the 28-year-old had never played the Majlis Course before.
Gouveia is still looking for his maiden DP World Tour win in his 190th event but arrived in Dubai full of confidence after finishing third at the Genesis Championship on his last start of 2024 to keep his card, having begun the week knowing he needed to finish in the top five.
Migliozzi sits fourth after an opening 66, with Mike Lorenzo-Vera of France a shot further back in a share of fifth on his return from a six-month break to address his mental health.
Lorenzo-Vera was joined on five under by Australian Jason Scrivener and Scottish pair Calum Hill and Ewen Ferguson, while four-time Hero Dubai Desert Classic winner Rory McIlroy opened his title defence with a two under par round of 70.
Player quotes
David Ford: “It was great. I got a couple putts to fall that I didn't know were going to go in hit a lot of good iron shots. I love where the pins were set up today. I felt like a lot of them fit my eye. Overall, solid. Definitely missed a few shots and want a few swings back but overall, felt good about it
“I try to keep my expectations low. I know where my game is at right now and I have got a lot of people around me believing in me which is really helpful going into this week. I just tried to have fun. Just come out here and do the preparation that I do for college events and just keep everything really simple and keep having fun.
“The plan right now is to turn pro in May after the National Championship. Things could change. But yeah, right now, from the outside looking in, I think just planning to turn pro in May. Until then, just play a lot of golf, hang out with the team and have a lot of fun.”
David Micheluzzi: Never played it before - it's a tough golf course. Everyone is saying how tough it was and today I played great. There's nothing more to it.
“It was nice for the first, I'd say, like 11, 12 holes and then the wind got up a little bit. Just kept hitting good shots, and stumped a few shots where I probably wasn't aiming. Got lucky with those, and then hold some nice putts coming in.
“Just go out and enjoy it. Last year was, I'd say, nerve-wracking, first year out, it's always tough, new venues every week. Just want to look forward to every event and play the best I can, and I started well this week, which is nice.”
Ricardo Gouveia: One of those days everything went really well. I hit some good tee shots, some good second shots. Holed some good putts, as well, and that's key out here. You've got to be on the fairway to be able to attack these pins, and that's what I did today.
“I knew someone could shoot a low one, but yeah, I knew it was going to be really tough to do it. Like you said, the rough is really thick, really tall. It's hard to get close to these pins if you're not on the fairway, but if you get on a hot streak, I guess you can go low.”
Mike Lorenzo-Vera: Well, managed to play some good golf. When I missed the shots, there was not really many problems when I missed, and the short game was really good. I think the status of the putting will be very good.
:(On what has kept you away from golf since July) Mental health condition. I had a lot of treatment to do and resting, and working a lot on my mental strength. Just kept the bag in the garage for like three months or four months, and I decided to restart by only making some 18 holes, 27 holes with a buggy. You know, nothing too hard, and not really any big practise sessions. Just play golf, play golf, find joy into the game, and feels good.
“I felt I could play some proper golf because I feel rested, and actually, the mindset was very important. Really we had a lot of chats with all the mental team and I called my team around, and like the mindset this week and for the three weeks coming is just go out there and enjoy playing golf, which was not easy the last two to three years. Actually, I really enjoyed today.”
