Rory McIlroy might be hitting the greens in India as he’s been invited to join a landmark golf event in the country. He has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of Bryson DeChambeau, who will compete in an Asian Tour International Series event in Gurugram this month.
McIlroy is being lined up for a different competition later in the year. The Hindustan Times reports that the DP World Tour and Delhi Golf Club have tentatively agreed for the renowned course to host a $5 million Rolex series event in October, marking the biggest prize pool for any tournament ever held in India.
Rory McIlroy is being lined up for a lucrative event in India (Image: Getty Images)
A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is expected to be inked by Ben Cowen, the DP World Tour’s Chief Tournament and Operations Officer, on January 22. The anticipated Indian tournament, under discussion since last October, is set to be the second-to-last stop before the DP World Tour playoffs, just before the Genesis Championship in Korea from October 23-26.
Delhi Golf Club captain Vikram Seth shared his hopes with The Hindustan Times that McIlroy will join the high-stakes event, noting that the Northern Irishman has received a “special request” to participate.
“It’ll be a completely new event on the European calendar. It’s a major coup for the DGC which has been made possible by the efforts of our president Raj Khosla,” said Seth.
“It’s a shot in the arm for the club that has not hosted a major international event for two years. Hero Indian Open, the other DP World Tour event in the country, has a prize purse of $2.25 million. So, with $5 million in prize money, we are expecting the who’s who of international golf to come to India.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – NOVEMBER 17: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off on the 4th hole on day four of the DP World Tour Championship 2024 on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on November 17, 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images) ( Image: Getty Images)
“We have placed a special request to get Rory McIlroy to India and we are confident that he’ll show up.”
Back in January of 2024, McIlroy flirted with the idea of India being the home to a world-renowned golf tournament. “You know, if this global tour somehow comes to fruition in the next few years, could you imagine bringing the best 70 or 80 golfers in the world to India for a tournament or, you know, that – I think would change the game and the perception of the game in a country like that,” he said.
While McIlroy has never actually stepped foot in India, the world’s No. 3 golfer looks forward to someday visiting the country – perhaps for a golf tournament.
“With how the golf calendar is at the minute – and that’s the other thing that needs to be looked at – there’s so many different golf tournaments that happen at different times,” he continued. “And it’s going to be very hard for everything to piece together, but it’s a country that I’ve never been to and one that I would like to visit at some point in my life.”
