Rory McIlroy plans to skip the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2013
Last season, Rory McIlroy marked a strong start to his European Tour campaign, by recording top-five finishes in each of the first four tournaments that he played, which also included tied fifth position in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
This season, the world number one has decided to remove the event from his schedule. Although, he has not confirmed it yet, his manager, Conor Ridge, said that the Northern Irishman will not be visiting the Emirate Golf Club this season.
The Omega Dubai Desert Classic was one of few tournaments that invited McIlroy as an amateur in his early career. Moreover, the 23-year-old also secured his professional victory at the same tournament.
Right after winning the season-ending DP World Tour Championship last season, he said that he will stick to his schedule, at least for the first two months.
According to him, he will participate in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January. However, he did not mention the Omega Dubai Desert Classic as the part of his roster for 2013.
“I’ve done my schedule. I’m sticking to it, and I’m not letting anyone persuade me to go anywhere else. I’ve learned my lesson over the last couple of years, and yeah, I’m going to stick to what I’ve planned to do,” said McIlroy after his stunning win at
the DP World Tour Championship.
He added, “So far I’ve scheduled Abu Dhabi, Match Play, Honda, Doral, Houston. I think that’s it”.
He also said that he will focus on qualitative approach, rather than playing too many tournaments during the 2013 golf season.
When asked about the tournaments that he will skip next year, he avoided replying to that question. However, he gave a hint of removing the Singapore Open and the Hong Kong Open from his schedule.
"I guess Singapore and Hong Kong are question marks on whether they are going to be on the Tour schedule. They are probably ones that you can omit,” he said.
Lee Westwood, in the meantime, has once again committed to participate in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Last year, he finished second on the leaderboard, and now hopes to go one better next month.
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