The Remarkable Run That Ended For Rory McIlroy At The Dubai Desert Classic

If there’s one city in the world you can normally rely on Rory McIlroy to perform well it is surely Dubai.

The Northern Irishman has racked up no fewer than seven titles in the United Arab Emirates city, beginning with the Dubai Desert Classic in 2009 and most recently with the 2024 DP World Tour Championship.

In McIlroy's first start of 2026, he came close to an eighth title in the city, eventually finishing T3 at the Dubai Invitational. However, it is the tournament that marked the first of McIlroy’s Dubai wins that has brought him the most success through the years.

McIlroy has won the Dubai Desert Classic four times, the most recent of which came with a one-shot victory over Adrian Meronk in 2024, but even that doesn’t give the full picture of his remarkable consistency at the tournament.

Generally, even in years where McIlroy didn't win the Dubai Desert Classic, he could be relied upon to get very close, and that victory McIlroy achieved in 2009 began a run of 11 consecutive top-10 finishes at the tournament.

In that sequence, as well as his four titles, there was also a runner-up in 2018, a finish of third four years later, and two more top-five placings, with T10 in 2011 his worst result in that span... until now.

Given McIlroy’s performance at the Dubai Invitational, there was every reason to assume he would extend his run of consecutive top-10 finishes to 12 at Emirates Golf Club, but that’s not how it worked out.

McIlroy’s quest for his fifth title at the event never really got going. He found himself five shots back of the lead after the first round, with a seven-shot deficit at the halfway stage.

That ambition had all but vanished at the 54-hole mark, where McIlroy trailed leader and eventual winner Patrick Reed by 11, but with just three to make up on the top 10 at that stage, he would surely have remained confident of continuing his run.

Unfortunately for McIlroy, he could only match his opening round score of 73 on Sunday, leaving him stranded in tie for 33rd on two under for the tournament, four short of the score needed to continue the sequence.

Even with that subdued end to his week, there is little to suggest McIlroy won’t bounce back soon. Indeed, one of the qualities that sets him apart from most of his peers is his remarkable consistency over many years.

While McIlroy will almost certainly put his rare misstep behind him in short order, where the Dubai Desert Classic is concerned, his long love affair with the tournament will need to go on hold for at least a year.