The inaugural DP World India Championship promises to be one of the biggest names in the DP World Tour schedule, offering a sizeable purse of $4m and coming at a time when players are becoming acutely aware of what’s needed to ensure they reach the end-of-season Playoffs.
The tournament also comes from one of the most celebrated courses in India, Delhi Golf Club, giving it prestige even before the first tee shot.
There are also some huge names in the field, among them Rory McIlroy, who is competing in his first tournament in India.
He is joined at the tournament by fellow European Ryder Cup heroes Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry, along with captain Luke Donald, while Ben Griffin, who played for Team USA at the Bethpage Black match, is also competing.
Only Lowry of that group didn’t have a press conference in his schedule before the event got underway. Here are some of the key responses the others gave to questions put to them by reporters.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy would like to captain the European Ryder Cup team
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In the immediate aftermath of Team Europe’s Ryder Cup win, captain Donald was urged by the players to stay on for “two more years.”
While the Englishman has not yet confirmed whether he will or will not continue the role, McIlroy was asked if would like to become captain in the future.
He responded: “Sometime, yes. Certainly not 2027. I hope I’m still playing at that point. But yeah, I would love to be The European Team captain at some point.
“But that will be beyond my playing days, or at least when my playing days are coming to an end and I’m not good enough to make the team or I make way for the new generation to come along.”
But when does McIlroy envisage leading Europeans? He added: “So hopefully one day in the future, but I’d say not until the mid-2030s, hopefully, if I can keep playing well.”
Tommy Fleetwood
Tommy Fleetwood had some advice for amateurs
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Not that many needed convincing, but Tommy Fleetwood’s Tour Championship victory in August confirmed his credentials as one of the best players of the era.
The Englishman then backed that up at the Ryder Cup as one of Europe’s star players on the way to victory at Bethpage Black.
So, what advice…
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