Rory McIlroy has already decided that he is highly unlikely to be using his driver at the DP World India Championship in the Northern Irishman’s first start since the Ryder Cup.
The DP World Tour has received a huge boost this week, with Rory McIlroy the headline name in a strong field in India. The Masters champion will play his first two rounds alongside Viktor Hovland and Ben Griffin.
It is the first time the event has ever been played, with Delhi Golf Club playing host this week. And it seems that course layout does not exactly play to McIlroy’s biggest strength.
With the course measuring below 7,000 yards – including four par fours of less than 400 yards – accuracy is going to be the order of the day for the field this week.
Why Rory McIlroy does not expect to use his driver at the DP World India Championship
In fact, McIlroy suggested that there is a good chance that he may decide to not use the longest club in his bag at all over the next four days.
“I’d say that the next time I hit my driver will be in Abu Dhabi,” he joked. “I don’t think I’ll hit a driver this week. I just don’t feel like the risk is worth the reward.
“I’d rather leave myself two or three clubs back and hit a seven iron into a par four instead of hitting a wedge where if you just get it off-line here and the ball is gone. You’re hitting it into jungle and you’re not going to be able to get it out. You can rack up a very big number very quickly.
“So being strategic and being smart with your play off the tee, especially, is very important. I can see why S.S.P. has done so well around here. You just keep hitting it down the middle, hit it 260, 250, 260 every single time, and if you do that, then you can do very well around this golf course.”
Rory McIlroy comments on the likelihood of playing in the Hero Indian Open next year
It is the second event of the year on the DP World Tour to be held in India. It was Eugenio Chacarra who won the Hero Indian Open back in March.
McIlroy has shown that he is prepared to travel further across the globe than almost any other PGA Tour player.
But it seems that fans should not expect the five-time major winner to be in New Delhi for next year’s Indian Open. He went on to explain how it comes at a bad time for him with much of his focus on gearing up for Augusta National.
“It’s hard, because the Indian Open, is it March or April time? March? It’s such a hard time of the year to make it work. We’re over in the States playing The Players or Bay Hill or getting ready for the Masters. It’s hard to travel across all those time zones and come back again and be in the right place physically and mentally to try to go into the first major of the year,” he said.
“I’d love to play the DLF. I think it’s become, like, this infamous golf course around the world, just the bunkering, and that 17th hole seems to be just an absolute menace of a golf hole. I’d love to get there and play at some point. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it happen this week.
“But again, if it was something where I come back next year to this event, or at least I’ll know the golf course here. So it might give me a free day to go and play the DLF on the Monday or the Tuesday.”
It will be fascinating to see how McIlroy fares over the coming days. Should he get off to a disappointing start, it would be no surprise to see him change tack and decide to reach for the driver.
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