DUBAI: The buzzword here on the eve of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic is comfort. Shubhankar Sharma is comfortable. So is Tommy Fleetwood, who shifted base to Dubai late last year. Rory McIlroy walks around as if he owns the place. Well, he does have a strong claim on the golf courses he has played on at the Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championships, the last event of each calendar year on the DP World Tour.
Since the then curly-haired McIlroy won his first Desert Classic in 2009, he has never finished outside To p-10. Only twice in his 12 starts in the DP World Tour at the Earth Course on the Jumeirah Golf Estates, about 20 kilometres from the Emirates Golf Club, the venue for this week's Hero DDC, has McIlroy been outside Top-20. He has won the Desert Classic twice (2009 and 2015) and the DP World Tour Championships twice (2012 and 2015).
