Confident McIlroy returns to his happy hunting ground — Jumeirah Golf Estate

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
 
Making his 11th appearance at DP World Tour Championship, the four-time major winner Rory McIlroy returns to a happy hunting ground this week, having tasted victory at this event at Jumeirah Golf Estates in 2012 and 2015 and recorded five more top five finishes.

The Northern Irishman has finished runner-up at the Fire Course of Jumeirah Golf Estates, third once, and has three other top-5s and one more top-10 in his past 10 appearances.

And he believes he has a good chance of being in contention once again as some of the world's best players head to the Earth Course for the final Rolex Series event of 2021.

He added: "It's good to be here. It's a place I've had success in. It's a course that suits my game really well.

"I'll have a good chance this week. I don't feel like I need to do anything too special to give myself a chance on Sunday."

It has been a memorable year for McIlroy, who made a promising start to the 2021 Race to Dubai campaign with a third place finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January before securing two wins on the PGA Tour.

The second of those victories came at last month's CJ CUP in Las Vegas, where he held off Race to Dubai leader Collin Morikawa to claim the title.

McIlroy also represented Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics, just missing out on a bronze medal in a thrilling play-off, and found himself in contention during the closing stages of a Major Championship.

And after gaining confidence from his recent victory, the 32-year-old is hoping to finish 2021 on a high.

He said: "I feel like it's been a year of exploration, learning."