Rory McIlroy is excited to be venturing into uncharted territory as he prepares to tee it up at the inaugural DP World India Championship.
The World Number Two, who recently helped Europe to a historic Ryder Cup victory in New York, has made clear his desire to take his game around the world, and he is set to break new ground this week as he headlines a stellar international field at the new $4million event at Delhi Golf Club.
Related: Victorious Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald ready for India swing
The Northern Irishman is teeing it up in India for the first time at the event that is title partnered by global smart logistics provider DP World and co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
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McIlroy cemented his status as a global golfing icon when he completed the Career Grand Slam at the Masters earlier this year and he is thrilled to be taking his game to new surroundings in the company of fellow European Ryder Cup stars Tommy Fleetwood – the PGA TOUR’s reigning FedExCup champion – Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland, and their captain Luke Donald.
American Major winner Brian Harman and his compatriot and three-time PGA TOUR winner Ben Griffin will also make their debuts in India this week, with all of the travelling stars expressing their excitement to take to the narrow, tree-lined fairways at the venue in the heart of India’s capital.
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The field also boasts almost 30 Indian players keen to make an impression on home soil, including two-time DP World Tour winner, Shubhankar Sharma, 18-time global winner Anirban Lahiri, seven-time global winner Shiv Kapur and Veer Ahlawat, who secured his 2025 DP World Tour card by topping the previous season’s PGTI Rankings.
Player Quotes
Rory McIlroy: It’s great to be here, first and foremost. India is a country that I’ve wanted to travel to for a long time.
I’m excited to play a golf tournament in a place that I’ve never played before. 18-odd years into a professional career and to still be able to do things for the first time is something that excites me.
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I’ve watched tournaments on this golf course over the years on TV, and you know, the course certainly lives up to its reputation. I’m excited to get out there and take it on this week. Just excited to get going and can’t wait to play in front of a lot of Indian fans that will hopefully be out there over the next few days.
I’d say that the next time I hit my driver will be in Abu Dhabi (in November). I don’t think I’ll hit a driver this week. I just don’t feel like the risk is worth the reward. I’d rather leave myself two or three clubs back and hit a 7-iron into a par 4 instead of hitting a wedge where if you just get it off-line here and the ball is gone. You’re hitting it into jungle and you’re not going to be able to get it out. You can rack up a very big number very quickly.
So being strategic and being smart with your play off the tee, especially, is very important. I can see why S.S.P. (Chawrasia) has done so well around here. You just keep hitting it down the middle, hit it 260, 250, 260 every single time, and if you do that, then you can do very well around this golf course.
Tommy Fleetwood: It is nice to be back. It’s been nine years, I was struggling back here back in 2016. That was my last time. So it’s great to come back.
It’s been a really good year. I think overall, throughout the year, especially the summer, I think I played very consistently, and worked on my game really well. And then just the last month or so, I managed to get that win on the PGA TOUR. It seemed like a really big thing, a big story, and the Ryder Cup came. Just being a part of that winning team was something that was very special.
So yeah, 2025 has been filled with a lot of good things, but there’s still three more events to go. So just focused on now and trying to make sure I finish as strong as I can.
Hopefully we can put on a good showcase of the sport (this week). You know, we have a lot of great players. The DP World Tour is an amazing tour, and hopefully we can showcase the sport in the best possible way.
I honestly think success here would be seeing growth in the game in the country, seeing a lot of interest, at all levels and at all ages. You know, this could be an amazing point in where we can grow the game and get as many people into it as possible. You can look as far ahead into the future as you want and start reaching for the stars.
