Rory McIlroy opened up with a round of three-under par 69 on day one of the DP World India Championship on Thursday.
McIlroy is back playing on the DP World Tour after his success at the Ryder Cup in September.
Before the tournament began, McIlroy admitted his golf has been ‘weird’ this year, in the sense that he has been sensationally good at just the right times.
The 36-year-old will now be very keen to finish off his 2025 season with a flourish.
He has won three times on the PGA Tour this season, once on the DP World Tour, completed the Grand Slam by triumphing at The Masters in April and was part of a victorious European Ryder Cup team.
That is a dream year, no matter who you are. However, one of the things that makes McIlroy so good is his drive to keep on winning.
That’s exactly what he will be trying to do at the DP World India Championship this week.
Rory McIlroy surprised by the course in India on day one of DP World Tour event
McIlroy shared his opinion on how Delhi Golf Club played on day one of the DP World India Championship.
He said: “Yeah, it’s pretty tricky. You’re just really trying to be as conservative as possible off the tee and then trying to pick off birdies on the par-5s and maybe pick up a couple more. Yeah, it’s a tricky golf course.
“I thought some of the hole locations early on were really tricky. You play a practice round or a pro-am, the pins are all in the middle of the green, and then you get to tournament day and they start to tuck them away a little bit, and of course definitely played a little tougher than I expected it to today.“
McIlroy was then asked if he plans on keeping the same strategy for his second round in India.
The Northern Irishman replied by saying: “Yeah, I think it’s similar strategy to what I did today, especially off the tee. You just have to get the ball in the fairway. The rough is unpredictable. You get a lot of fliers like I did the last two there. Yeah, maybe being a little bit less aggressive with approach shots and getting it on the right side of the pin.
“The greens are so grainy that uphill putts are very slow, but then if you get it above the hole, the downhill putts with the down grain get very, very quick, so leaving yourself below the hole is pretty important, as well.“
Despite the fact that he found the course extremely tricky on Thursday, he is still right in the golf tournament, just four shots adrift of the first round leader Keita Nakajima.
Ben Griffin takes totally different strategy to Rory McIlroy at India Championship
Ben Griffin posted a round of 68 on day one at Delhi Golf Club, after carding five birdies, an eagle and three bogeys.
Griffin was asked whether he agrees with McIlroy’s assessment that Delhi Golf Club played more difficult during the first day of the DP World India Championship than it did in practice.
“Erm, it’s funny. Some people play better when they’re playing casually at home or in practice rounds.
“I feel like I’m the worst golfer when it comes to me playing at home or playing in practice rounds, or in Pro-Ams. I rarely shoot under par in Pro-Ams, I’ll be honest.
“In a tournament round I maybe lock in a little bit more with targets and everything like that.
“I’d say my strategy was pretty similar to the practice rounds. Some guys tend to lay back but I was hitting three-wood pretty good and putting it out there. A hole like number nine, a lot of guys were hitting iron off that tee, I was able to hit three-wood down there and was able to hit a short iron in and made birdie.
“It depends on the holes but this is a very challenging golf course.“
Griffin clearly thrives during tournament rounds and if the truth be known, McIlroy does as well.
McIlroy just found it tough going on day one of the DP World India Championship in comparison to how the course played during practice rounds.
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