Rory McIlroy has certainly made a habit of starting as you mean to go on as he looks to continue his sensational record in his first start of the year.
Entering his 20th year as a professional, McIlroy has registered one win, six second place finishes and fifteen top-5s in his first tournament of the year. He usually starts his year in the desert and heading into the final round of the Dubai Invitational he trails Nacho Elvira by three shots.
Amazingly, he was viewing this week at Dubai Creek Resort as a warm up for next week’s Dubai Desert Classic an event he loves and has won a record four times, but he is quietly confident that he can sneak a 21st DP World Tour win.
“I would say the opportunity to work on some things when you have a little bit of time off over the Christmas period. And then I just think the enthusiasm to start a new year and start fresh. I’ve always loved coming out here to the Middle East and to Dubai and playing in these tournaments.
“Even from when I was an amateur, I played a couple of Desert Classics as an amateur, as well. So I’ve been coming here for, geez, over 20 years, I guess, at this point.
“It’s a place I’m comfortable. I made a lot of friends here along the way, and you know, I’m always excited start my year in Dubai.
“I was looking at this week as honestly a bit of a practice week going into the Desert Classic next week, just to shake off a little bit of the rust. But it’s great to go into a final round tomorrow in contention and have a chance to win a tournament.
So I’ll learn a lot about — I’ve learned a lot about my game over the last three days but I think any time that you’re at the business end of proceedings on the final day, you learn a lot about your game. Tomorrow will be a good day for me. Just to know what to maybe focus on going into the Desert Classic next week, as well.”
As for his round three performance, McIlroy played with a dry golf ball as he avoided the water after plunging into it four times on Friday.
After a quiet front nine of one birdie and one bogey he ground out three birdies on his way home to shoot 68 for a five-under total and a share of fifth place.
“Yeah, a little bit better than yesterday. Kept the ball dry instead of the four water balls I had. It was a tricky enough day. The wind was up a little bit again and maybe not quite as much as yesterday but got off to a bit of a slow start but stayed patient and hung in there. Was rewarded with three birdies on the back nine.”
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