Rory McIlroy takes on Tiger Woods role at | Golf News

Rory McIlroy is making a return to the Australian Open for the first time in ten years, opting out of the Hero World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods. The current Grand Slam winner has already drawn comparisons to the legendary golfer.

At 36, McIlroy is decreasing his event participation but broadening his global presence, enjoying in the Australian Open after more than a decade. His inclusion in the event is inflicting fairly a stir, with an anticipated increase of 30,000 followers.

“Everything that was last year has probably multiplied by about 5 or 10 times,” event director Antonia Beggs shared with Front Office Sports. “Everyone wants to be a part of it,” added Beggs, who also serves as the GM of major occasions for Golf Australia.

McIlroy’s participation in the Australian Open is attracting a large crowd and an spectacular quantity of volunteers. Guy Kinnings emphasised the importance of McIlroy’s willingness to compete at Royal Melbourne.

“To have one of our sport’s greatest ever players buying into this mission, and interested in playing in key growth markets, is hugely important for our business,” DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings told Front Office Sports.

“Rory’s presence gives any tournament recognition and subsequently boosts fan engagement and commercial interest. In his prime, Tiger Woods was an advocate for playing a global schedule, and Rory has taken on that role and is running with it.”

The majority of worldwide occasions that McIlroy competes in fall under the DP World Tour umbrella, which has broadened its attain globally while the PGA Tour predominantly stays centered on American soil. The DP World Tour staged competitions across 26 different nations in 2025, with McIlroy showing at seven tournaments spanning 5 international locations during that period.

“I enjoy the travel,” McIlroy remarked at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. “I enjoy playing in different parts of the world.

“Going back to the same place, the same factor 15, 20 years in a row, it could possibly get a little bit monotonous and a little bit tedious,” McIlroy commented in September ahead of the BMW PGA Championship in England.

Moving forward in his golfing career, McIlroy intends to concentrate primarily on major championships and Ryder Cup competitions. “I’ve talked about attempting to win at some of the most important venues in golf-this week is one of them.

“You think about the tournaments and the people that have won at Royal Melbourne and how highly regarded it is within the golf world. I was lucky enough to win at Pebble Beach [Pro-Am] this year for the first time, and obviously at Augusta. I’d love to win at St. Andrews one day. I’d love to win a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

“There are a few venues in our sport that possibly just imply a bit more than some of the others and that’s one thing that I’d love to do in the future,” the World No. 2 stated.

“I would like to win more majors. I would like to be half of more Ryder Cup groups. I’d say my data on either tour, whether or not it’s the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour are in all probability that means a little less to me as time goes on, and it is actually just focusing on the majors and being half of that Ryder Cup group. I’m attempting to construct on the legacy that I’ve been building for the last 15 years.”