Rory McIlroy will chase a fifth Dubai Desert Classic title in January after the Masters champion showed his commitment once again to one of the DP World Tour’s biggest events
Rory McIlroy has continued his commitment to the DP World Tour with the announcement he will return to one of his favorite events: the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
McIlroy will return to Emirates Golf Club as he pursues a fifth Dubai Desert Classic title in January, headlining a stacked field for one of the biggest events of the early season that has a $9 million prize pool.
The Masters champion’s decision to head to Dubai is confirmation that he will once again skip the start of the PGA Tour season, including the first $20 million signature event of the year, The Sentry, which has been left without a venue after Kapalua’s Plantation Course announced it could not stage the tournament.
“It’s been a very special year for me, and I’m excited about what’s still to come,” world No. 2 McIlroy said in a press release. “The Hero Dubai Desert Classic has always been one of my favourite tournaments, and I’m really looking forward to returning to Emirates Golf Club in January.
“I consider Dubai a second home – the support there is always incredible, and it’s the perfect place to start the year.”
Executive tournament director Simon Corkhill welcomed the news. He said: “Rory’s return is the perfect way to launch our 2026 event.
“We never take his participation for granted, and to welcome him back as the Masters champion after perhaps the finest season of an already sensational career only reinforces the prestige of this tournament.
“With the introduction of affordable weekend tickets, our strengthened sustainability commitments, and a greater focus on wellness, family experiences and entertainment in Tournament Town, we’re making the Hero Dubai Desert Classic not only one of the great tournaments on the DP World Tour, but also an unmissable highlight of Dubai’s sporting and social calendar.”
The Dubai Desert Classic has produced many special memories for McIlroy and his loved ones(Image: Getty Images)
The Dubai Desert Classic has proved a popular destination with LIV Golf players in recent years, with the breakaway league’s season not beginning until February.
The 2025 tournament was won by Tyrrell Hatton, and he was one of many LIV members who teed it up in Dubai. Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Dean Burmester, Adrian Meronk, and Thomas Pieters were also in the field.
With PGA Tour stars Tommy Fleetwood, Bob MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, and Justin Rose all set to be involved again, the Dubai Desert Classic is set to boast one of the strongest and most intriguing fields in the early stages of the 2026 season.
McIlroy made clear earlier this month that he intends to take greater control over his schedule and play the tournaments he wants to compete in, rather than solely prioritising the PGA Tour and chasing the biggest paychecks.
“At this point I want to play golf when I want to play golf,” he told reporters. “I want to play in the locations that I love to go to, and I want to play the majors and the Ryder Cup. That’s it.
“I’m not going to be going by minimums or anything else. Like I’ll obviously do my bit to make sure I keep my membership and all that on certain tours, but I’m going to play where I want to play.”
He continued: “I want to go and play in different places in the world and experience things that I haven’t experienced before. 20 years into a year, or 18 years, to be able to do things for the first time. So go to India and play for the first time or whatever that may be, that excites me.
“You know, going back to the — I don’t want to name a tournament, but you’re going back to the same place, the same thing 15, 20 years in a row, it can get a little bit monotonous and a little bit tedious.
“To mix it up and do these things – I had a chat with Roger Federer at the end of his career and he was saying he wanted to go and play a lot of the places he could never play in his career. So some of the smaller 250 events, just because people had never seen him play tennis before.
“I think as time goes on and I get to this stage of my career, I get excited about doing that sort of thing.”
