In Rorylandia it can perfectly happen that Rory McIlroy (-9) starts his round at hole 10 of the Dubai Creek Resort, venue of the Dubai Invitational, first tournament of the DP World Tour of 2024, and does not manage to sign any birdie in the first two par 5 of the course, which are early (holes 10 and 13), and yet his final record does not suffer any convulsion (round of 62 strokes, bogey-free, nine less on the day and solo leadership).
In Rorylandia, in fact, it can even happen that in the second of those par 5, the one at hole 13, the Northern Irishman sends his ball into the water, missing the second shot, but ends up saving par after sinking a seven-meter putt.
In Rorylandia it can also happen that this magnificent player is able to create up to eleven reasonable or very clear birdie options from less than four meters, displaying an immense and accurate repertoire of second shots, mainly with the wedges. In fact, McIlroy has added nine birdies and in eight of them he was always putting below the three-meter distance. Very much in Scheffler’s style, to understand us, but if anything even finer, counting on the advantage of his hitting, superior to the Texan’s. The issue may be, although it is not relevant now, that Scottie is more consistent in the task, week by week, tournament by tournament.
In Rorylandia, in short, it is not surprising that the boy from Holywood can lead a tournament alone after signing such a low round, it is not the first time it happens, nor the twentieth, nor the thirtieth. It will not be the last, we can be sure of that. The Northern Irishman rules the Dubai Invitational with a firm hand after the first day and strengthens his status as the undisputed favourite, with a two-stroke lead over his immediate pursuer, the German Yannik Paul (-7). And no, don’t let anyone believe: the Dubai course is as simple as Rory and Paul’s records may suggest, and that’s without the wind blowing. In fact, half of the competitors have not been able to beat the course. It’s not that it’s a very tough test, but the greens are firm and this circumstance always complicates things, especially for those who are not very fine.
Tommy Fleetwood (-5), Thorbjorn Olesen (-5), Nicolai Hojgaard (-4) and Thriston Lawrence (-6), as well as a notable Adrián Otaegui (-4) follow Rory’s trail more or less far away, waiting to see what happens in Rorylandia these days. It is well known that in this fantasy kingdom anything can happen (almost everything good or exciting, by the way).
