Rory McIlroy is set to defend his title at the UBS Hong Kong Open
The world number one Rory McIlroy has decided to return to the field of the UBS Hong Kong Open, slated to start from November 15, 2012. The $2 million tournament is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour.
Last year, the Northern Irishman outshined his rivals on the field to take the title home. This year, he plans to repeat his heroics at the Hong Kong Golf Club to retain the trophy.
If he succeeds in his plans of title defence, he will become the first player in the history of the prestigious event to record two victories in a row.
McIlroy, who has won a total of four tournaments worldwide this season, is relishing the opportunity of playing the event in Hong Kong.
According to him, if he manages to defend his title successfully, he will be able to strengthen his position on top of the Race to Dubai.
Moreover, it will also provide him a boost for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, scheduled in the following week.
“I can’t wait to get back there and try to defend my title. I have said it for a long time now that the UBS Hong Kong Open is among my favourite tournaments anywhere in the world,” he said.
“I absolutely love the city – it is just one of those places that has a great energy around it, and there is so much to do away from the golf course.
He added, “Then you have the golf course itself, which is another major draw for me. It is one of the courses that I loved from the first time I played in 2008, and I just have so much fun playing around there”.
McIlroy has had a great season so far, as he won four events on the PGA Tour, including a victory in the PGA Championship.
In March, he won The Honda Classic and reached the top of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career.
In addition to that, he came close to victories a number of times in other events, but missed them in the end.
However, he did not let the lead go out of his hands at the PGA Championship, in August. He displayed a consistent game till the end of the tournament and registered a record-breaking eight-stroke margin victory at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
A couple of weeks later, he won the second leg of the US PGA Tour Playoffs, the Deutsche Bank Championship – his third PGA Tour victory of the season.
The very next week, he added another PGA Tour title to his resume, by winning the BMW Championship.
He is currently the only player on the PGA Tour so far to record four victories in 2012 season.
Besides all that, he has not been able to taste success on the European Tour so far this season. Yet, he is the leading player in the Race to Dubai, because of his consistent performance on the Tour.
He now wants to end the 2012 European Tour season on a high note by winning the UBS Hong Kong Open.
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