Rory McIlroy has been rubbing shoulders with Formula One drivers and Premier League footballers in Dubai this week but still believes he has the best job in the world.
The cast list for the Dubai Desert Classic pro-ams rivalled that for the tournament itself with McLaren driver Lando Norris and England duo Harry Maguire and Jordan Pickford involved as well as Scotland skipper Andy Robertson and his Liverpool team-mates Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner.
McIlroy enjoyed the chance to swap notes during the Premier League’s winter break but his conclusion is that for all his love of the Ryder Cup he is an individual sportsman at heart.
“I think about where I would want to trade places with anyone in the sporting world quite a lot,” said McIlroy.
“The thing that I value so much about being a golfer is you’re your own boss, you turn up wherever you want to, basically and you make your own decisions. The responsibility is solely on you, which I think is a nice thing.
“Because I’ve been a golfer for so long, I can’t imagine being anything else. I like the fact that I’m my own boss, I make the decisions and if I tried to slot into a team environment or something where I’m maybe not in control of every action that I take, I’d struggle with that a bit.
“An F1 driver wouldn’t be too bad. I just saw Lando there coming off 18. It would be exhilarating for a day at least. I might kill myself in the process though.”
McIlroy is a Manchester United fan but resisted the temptation to harangue Maguire – who played with Lee Westwood yesterday – about his form on the football pitch.
“I saw him on the range this morning,” said McIlroy. “He seems like a great leader, seems like a great motivator, the sort of personality that you would want to captain a football team and someone you look up to.
“He’s actually a lot bigger than I realised. Standing next to him, he’s a big lad. I wouldn’t want to get tackled by him, that’s for sure.
“It’s good to see him out here. I think the break for everyone involved is probably needed and they can get back and be refreshed and end the season well.”
McIlroy is only one event into his season and after a 12th place in Abu Dhabi last week is looking to press on today at a venue where he won for the first time on the European Tour and regained the trophy in 2015.
“This was one of the first events I played on The European Tour back in 2006 as a 16-year-old and I have a lot of good memories here. It’s a very comfortable place for me and it’s nice to be back,” he said.
“It was a disappointing finish on Sunday but I felt some of the golf I played over the weekend was very encouraging. I guess just more of the same, maybe just try to refine a few things here and there.
“It’s early in the year and all I can ask for is getting myself into contention, trying to hit shots under pressure when it matters and hopefully I get another chance to do that this week.”
