Rory McIlroy is hopeful that a happy hunting ground can bring him a first Rolex Series title as he tees it up at this week’s Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.

McIlroy made just his fourth DP World Tour start at Emirates Golf Club as a 16-year-old amateur in 2006 – also following Tiger Woods round inside the ropes – and three years later he lifted the trophy for his first professional victory.

He won the Dallah Trophy again in 2015 and having also tasted glory twice at the DP World Tour Championship and lived in the Emirate, the Northern Irishman is delighted to be back.

Englishman Paul Casey is seeking to add another achievement to his already glittering CV when he defends the title in Dubai this week. The 44-year-old has 15 DP World Tour wins in addition to three victories on the PGA TOUR and has been on the winning side in three of his five Ryder Cup appearance.

He successfully defended his Valspar Championship across the Atlantic in 2019 but a victory this week would be the first time he has retained a title on the DP World Tour.

Casey’s Ryder Cup playing partner Viktor Hovland arrives in Dubai in excellent form having finished fourth at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and with two wins in his last four events.

Player Quotes

Rory McIlroy: “(I have) a lot of good memories here. Played as an amateur, got to World Number One amateur after playing pretty well in 2007. I lived in Dubai for four years as well. I’ve got good memories here. Have a lot of close friends from this region. It’s a very comfortable place for me and it’s nice to be back.

“This was one of the first events I played on the European Tour back in 2006, I think as a 16-year-old. The course hasn’t changed that much over the years. They put a couple of new tee boxes here and there. The greens seem to get progressively smaller as we keep coming back, so to see the new green complexes is nice to get them that can to their original shapes.

“It’s a great golf course. It’s a fun golf course to play. Gives you plenty of opportunities to make birdies. You know the scoring is always going to be pretty good. You have the three par fives on the back nine. You have a couple of reachable fours, and it’s just a fun golf course to play. I think everyone enjoys coming back here.”

Paul Casey: “It feels great. There’s not many times you’re defending champion. Feels brilliant. For me it was an emotional win last year, big win. This year, we’re back, it’s Rolex Series, a new sponsor with Slync.io. It feels great. We have got fans back which is even better, so it’s wonderful to be back in Dubai.

“To see the trophy again, I saw it on Monday night in the event down the road and to see my name next to other great champions is a very, very cool thing, it’s not something I take lightly. I’ve still yet to defend a title on the European Tour. I did it in the States. I did it as an amateur. I’d love to do it on the DP World Tour.”

Viktor Hovland: “It’s hard to believe it’s been two years already since I was last year but they have made some changes, and it looks great. Weather looks to be good and just kind of looking forward to get started for another great event.

“I took a little break over the winter, and felt a little rusty in Hawaii but last week I started playing well again and I feel like my game is trending in the right direction. Hopefully I can kind of build on a lot of stuff that I did well last week and just kind of clean up a couple things here and there.”