Simon Corkill: Dubai Desert Classic director on the impact of Rory McIlroy and the tournament's evolution

Defending and four-time champion returns to Emirates Golf Club in January to compete in the Middle East's oldest golf event, which continues to innovate every year

Hero Dubai Desert Classic tournament director Simon Corkill, right, alongside Rory McIlroy after his title victory in 2023. Photo: Hero Dubai Desert Classic

As the Hero Dubai Desert Classic’s finest champion and its most enduring star, it’s little surprise Rory McIlroy is responsible for tournament director Simon Corkill’s two standout moments.

“When Rory won in 2023,” Corkill told The National. “There was a lot of pressure from the world of golf. He was the spokesperson for the PGA Tour and DP World Tour [amid the split caused by the creation of LIV Golf], and he went head-to-head with [Ryder Cup rival and LIV defector] Patrick Reed.

“To see Rory win under such pressure was amazing. Raw talent came to the fore there … he holed a long putt on the last. That was very much a lasting memory.”

The other McIlroy memory is not quite as glorious. “The year before, he smashed the ball into the water [on the final hole] when he should have won. He was coming off the 16th green and he was set to win, and then two holes later he’d thrown it away.”

It’s those contrasting sides of McIlroy – the mercurial, generational talent capable of spell-binding golf but also prone to untimely implosion – that have made the Northern Irishman the box office golfer of his era.

In good times and bad, the Dubai Desert Classic has been a near constant throughout McIlroy’s career, winning his first professional title at Emirates Golf Club in 2009 and adding three further Dallah Trophies to his cabinet, including back-to-back in the last two years.

McIlroy, the world No 3, will return in January for the 2025 Desert Classic aiming to achieve the three-peat, and while he has been a regular presence on the Majlis course over the years, Corkill insisted that each of his visits need to be cherished.

“It’s fantastic that Rory’s defending his title,” he said. “We can’t take him for granted. He’s played in Dubai a lot over the years, he’s been a great supporter of Dubai and especially the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, and we’re proud to have him as a multiple winner.

“But he’s a busy man, he’s talked a lot about reducing his schedule going forward and we’re absolutely delighted he’s going to start his year with us at Emirates Golf Club. He’s Europe’s top golfer and he’s certainly box office from a golfing point of view.

“He still moves the needle and he’s probably one of the only players who does that around the world. So, it’s vital we have him and we’re very proud to have him as our champion.”

McIlroy, as usual, will be the headline act come January 16, but it takes more than one golfer to create and sustain a successful DP World Tour event, no matter how needle-moving he may be.

The Dubai Desert Classic, first played in 1989, is the oldest professional golf event in the Middle East and has been a cornerstone of the UAE’s growing influence within the DP World Tour.

There are now five permanent tournaments in the Emirates, three of which – the Dubai Desert Classic, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and season-ending DP World Tour Championship – are elevated Rolex Series events, meaning more ranking points and prize money and deeper fields. Indeed, the latter two comprise the new-look play-off series featuring only the tour’s top 70 and top 50 players respectively.

Much has therefore changed in the three decades since Emirates Golf Club first stood as a luscious green oasis surrounded by a vast expanse of Dubai desert, the landscape significantly altered both literally and figuratively.

Corkill is aware that the Desert Classic can’t simply rely on its history to remain at the forefront of the UAE and global golf scenes and has made innovation a priority since assuming his role in 2019.

The tournament became GEO-certified in 2023 after introducing several sustainability initiatives, the fan experience has been elevated with the construction of the amphitheatre that surrounds the shared ninth and 18th green, and there has been an increasing focus on health and mental well-being. The junior Dubai Desert Classic was also launched three years ago and in 2025 will become an official amateur golf ranking event.

“It’s evolved in a very progressive way that we’re very proud about as a team,” Corkill said. “We’ve looked at all elements of the event to really grow it. One of the biggest areas that is very noticeable is our amphitheatre around the ninth and 18th. We really want to create that final hole drama and encapsulate that with the clubhouse and skyline in the background.

“One of the other areas we’re going to push further this year is the health and wellness messaging,” he added. “We introduced it last year and provided a mental fitness zone for the players and their entourage and we plan to roll that out again this year.

“I would like to see mental fitness and recovery areas become as normal as practice range balls for the pros. As part of that, we want to start talking about the health benefits of golf; it’s a fact that if you play golf, you will live five years longer so there is a big push we want to get across to the public this year.

“It’s an exciting journey. We certainly don’t sit down the day after the tournament and think, ‘Right, that’s it, let’s do the same thing next year’. We analyse every point of the event and see what we can do better, and we will certainly do that next year.”