Dubai Desert Classic: Rory McIlroy makes steady start, tough day for Indians in golf event

Shubhankar Sharma and debutant Veer Ahlawat had a rough start at the Dubai Desert Classic.

Rory McIlroy began the Dubai Desert Classic 2025 with a modest 2-under 70 as he attempted an unprecedented ‘three-in-a-row’ while seeking to win the event for the fifth time overall. His 70 was still one shot better than his opening round last year when he successfully defended the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Winner in 2023 and 2024 McIlroy – who also won in 2009 and 2014 – called his round ‘scrappy’.

The Northern Irishman was five behind an unlikely trio including an American World amateur No. 6 David Ford, Portugal’s Tour veteran Ricardo Gouveia, who is looking for his maiden DP World Tour win despite 190 starts and Australian David Micheluzzi, who was bogey-free playing the Majlis Course for the first time.

The Indian pair, Shubhankar Sharma, who a year ago achieved his best result at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at T-16, and debutant Veer Ahlawat, who got into the field on a sponsor’s invite, had a rough start.

Sharma carded 4-over 76 and was T-118 and Ahlawat had no birdies in his 2-over 74 that saw him start with 15 pars, but finish bogey-bogey-par to be T-103. Both will need solid second rounds to get into the weekend action.

McIlroy, who spoke ahead of the tournament and said he had been “working on having fun” during two months off, which included a trip to New Zealand and taking in a Borussia Dortmund game.

Making his first start since November, the World Number Three mixed four birdies with two bogeys at Emirates Golf Club.

“Yeah, pretty scrappy,” he said. “I felt I played probably better the first eight holes where I was one over compared to the last ten where I was three under.

Starting on the back nine, McIlroy birdied his opening hole from ten feet but bogeyed the 12th after a wayward approach and dropped another shot after driving into the water at the 14th. He finished with 2-under 70.

He added, “I did a good job of scrambling today. I made a lot of key up-and-downs. The bonus of a chip-in on seven. But I don’t want to have to rely on my short game the rest of the week like I did today.”

Currently sixth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Ford plays University golf in the United States and was part of their winning Walker Cup side in 2023. He eagled the tenth hole, his first hole of the day, and had six other birdies against a single bogey.

Micheluzzi had seven birdies in a flawless opening round, which was remarkable considering he had never played the Majlis Course before. “Everyone is saying how tough it was and today I played great. There’s nothing more to it,” he said. “It was nice for the first, I’d say 11, 12 holes and then the wind got up a little bit. Just kept hitting good shots, and stumped a few shots where I probably wasn’t aiming. Got lucky with those.”

Gouveia is still looking for his maiden DP World Tour after finishing third at the Genesis Championship at his last start of 2024 to keep his card, having begun the week knowing he needed to finish in the top five.

Guido Migliozzi of Italy was the sole fourth at 66, while four others shot 5-under 67 each. That foursome included Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera, who is making his first start since the middle of last year when he took a break from action to deal with mental health issues.

That decision has paid off with four birdies and an eagle against one bogey in a round of 66. The others alongside him in Tied-fifth were Australian Jason Scrivener and the Scottish duo Callum Hill and Ewen Ferguson, who has made Dubai his home and lives five minutes from the course.

Lorenzo-Vera credited a refreshed mindset as he enjoyed a brilliant return to DP World Tour action after a six-month absence over his mental health.

The Frenchman, who is making his first competitive appearance since the Barracuda Championship last July, carded a five-under 67 on the opening day at Emirates Golf Club.

Lorenzo-Vera spent several months away from the game, putting “the bag in the garage”, as he sought help from the DP World Tour’s medical team amid psychological pressures that were affecting him on and off the course.

Now, after slowly starting to play the game again recreationally at first, he is back among the elite and was very impressive at the demanding Majlis Course.

“I had a lot of treatment to do and resting and working a lot on my mental strength,” he said of what he has done during his time away from the tour. Just kept the bag in the garage for like three months or four months, and I decided to restart by only making some 18 holes, 27 holes with a buggy.

Lorenzo-Vera, 39, was once ranked 64th in the world but then struggled the last few seasons and last year had just one Top-10 finish.

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