Martin Dempster Hero Dubai Desert Classic preview from UAE

Transcript

00:00Hello, it's Martin Dempster, the Scotsman Golf Correspondent here, coming to you from

00:09close to the 18th green at Emirates Golf Club venue for this week's Hero Dubai Desert Classic,

00:18the opening Rolex Series event on the 2025 DP World Tour. Rory McIlroy is going to be

00:28the man to beat here again. He's been to win the title for the third year in a row, a rare

00:37feat in golf, and the Northern Irishman was today presented with the Seve Ballesteros

00:47Trophy for the DP World Tour Player of the Year in 2024, with that award being handed

00:55over to him by Javi Ballesteros, son of the great Spaniard. Another Spaniard, John Ramm,

01:03he's making his debut here this week and he'll be keen to pick up some valuable Rider Cup points

01:11before the start of the new Live Golf season next month. McIlroy, he spoke today about Tom

01:21McKibben, his Northern Irish compatriot, who is believed to be on his way to live,

01:29could be next week when confirmation comes about that move. Rory said that McKibben had spoken to

01:38him about it. He said that if it was him, he wouldn't be making such a move, but admitted

01:47that the decision has to come down to the individual, and does indeed look as though

01:52McKibben, one of the rising stars of the European game, is set to make a real sacrifice if he doesn't

02:00indeed make that move. Seven Scots in the field here this week, spearheaded by Bob McIntyre,

02:07winner of both the RBC Canadian Open and Genesis Scots Open last year of course. Bob's travelled

02:14from Hawaii, where he started his 2025 campaign by playing in two events. He was actually looking

02:22pretty fresh, to be honest, when we spoke to him today. He reckons that the time difference is so

02:28great that it's not really going to have the effect that it would normally have on someone,

02:33and he's looking forward to teeing up at a venue where he's had two top ten finishes,

02:39and like Ram, he's here to really enhance his hopes of an automatic spot in the Ryder Cup in

02:48September. To keep up to date with everything about the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and everything

02:53else in the golf world, log on to Scotsman.com or buy the Scotsman.