Rory McIlroy comes clean about one thing he needs to fix if he wants to win after the Dubai Desert Classic

The 2025 Dubai Desert Classic, which was Rory McIlroy's first tournament of the year, ended after Round 4 on January 19th. While McIlroy was initially in the mix to win the tournament, a bad showing in the last two holes of the final round led to him finishing T4.

While the Irishman managed a top 5 finish to kick off the 2025 season, he spoke about the one thing he needs to fix if he wants to win tournaments this season. In a press conference after the Dubai Desert Classic, he was asked to share his thoughts about his swing.

Rory McIlroy said:

"Probably just a little bit of game management. I think when you take a few weeks off and you come back to play like a really good tournament setup like this, I look at some flags on greens and like, whoa, that's quite a bit further to the right than I thought it would be or that's quite a bit further to the left.

"When you're playing at home and the greens are in the middle of the greens, it just gives you a different visual. Then you get out here, and your aim lines start to become a little different. So. I think playing a week like this, it sort of gives me a good appreciation for what I need to do the next few weeks."

While Rory McIlroy finished T4 at the Dubai Desert Classic, the tournament was won by LIV Golf professional Tyrrell Hatton. However, it's worth noting that McIlroy has won the Dubai Desert Classic more times than any other golfer. He won this tournament in 2009, 2015, 2023 and 2024.

---

How much did Rory McIlroy earn at the 2025 Dubai Desert Classic?

The 2025 Dubai Desert Classic had a purse of $9,000,000. While the largest share of this purse went to the event's winner Tyrrell Hatton ($1,530,000), Rory McIlroy earned $415,800 for his T4 finish. Here is a detailed look at the payout for the Dubai Desert Classic:

• 1 Tyrrell Hatton -15 $1,530,000
• 2 Daniel Hillier -14 $990,000
• 3 Laurie Canter -13 $563,400
• T4 Rory McIlroy -12 $415,800
• T4 Niklas Norgaard -12 $415,800
• T6 Tom McKibbin -11 $292,500
• T6 Shaun Norris -11 $292,500
• T8 David Micheluzzi -10 $213,300
• T8 Guido Migliozzi -10 $213,300
• T10 Ryan Fox -9 $161,325
• T10 Dylan Frittelli -9 $161,325
• T10 Rasmus Neergaard Petersen -9 $161,325
• T10 Patrick Reed -9 $161,325
• T14 Ricardo Gouveia -8 $135,000
• T14 Rasmus Hojgaard -8 $135,000
• 16 Ewen Ferguson -7 $126,900
• T17 Jordan Gumberg -6 $114,300
• T17 Calum Hill -6 $114,300
• T17 Min Woo Lee -6 $114,300
• T17 Robert Macintyre -6 $114,300
• T21 Tommy Fleetwood -5 $97,650
• T21 Julien Guerrier -5 $97,650
• T21 Jacques Kruyswijk -5 $97,650
• T21 Keita Nakajima -5 $97,650
• T21 Jayden Schaper -5 $97,650
• T21 Jason Scrivener -5 $97,650
• T27 Alexander Bjork -4 $84,150
• T27 Matthew Jordan -4 $84,150
• T27 Joost Luiten -4 $84,150
• T27 Connor Syme -4 $84,150
• T31 Marcus Armitage -3 $70,650
• T31 Ivan Cantero -3 $70,650
• T31 Francesco Laporta -3 $70,650
• T31 Mike Lorenzo Vera -3 $70,650
• T31 Thorbjorn Olesen -3 $70,650
• T31 Sebastian Soderberg -3 $70,650
• T37 Akshay Bhatia -2 $56,700
• T37 Todd Clements -2 $56,700
• T37 Joel Girrbach -2 $56,700
• T37 Casey Jarvis -2 $56,700
• T37 Alexander Knappe -2 $56,700
• T37 Adam Scott -2 $56,700
• T37 Johannes Veerman -2 $56,700
• T37 Preston Summerhays (am) -2 $0
• T45 Maximilian Kieffer -1 $44,100
• T45 Romain Langasque -1 $44,100
• T45 Richie Ramsay -1 $44,100
• T45 David Ravetto -1 $44,100
• T45 Matt Wallace -1 $44,100
• T45 Bernd Wiesberger -1 $44,100
• T45 Robin Williams -1 $44,100
• T52 Kiradech Aphibarnrat E $32,850
• T52 Dan Bradbury E $32,850
• T52 Louis De Jager E $32,850
• T52 Haotong Li E $32,850
• T52 Marcel Schneider E $32,850
• T52 Tom Vaillant E $32,850
• T58 Nacho Elvira 1 $26,100
• T58 Alfredo Garcia Heredia 1 $26,100
• T58 Richard Mansell 1 $26,100
• T58 Adrian Otaegui 1 $26,100
• T58 Marcel Siem 1 $26,100
• T58 Elvis Smylie 1 $26,100
• T58 Andy Sullivan 1 $26,100
• T65 Jens Dantorp 2 $21,600
• T65 Nicolai Hojgaard 2 $21,600
• T65 Jordan Smith 2 $21,600
• T68 Joe Dean 3 $18,900
• T68 Angel Hidalgo 3 $18,900
• T68 Jeong Weon Ko 3 $18,900
• T68 Adam Bresnu (am) 3 $0
• T72 Nicolas Colsaerts 4 $17,100
• T72 David Ford (am) 4 $0
• T74 Ugo Coussaud 5 $14,000
• T74 Jannik De Bruyn 5 $14,000
• T74 Daniel Gavins 5 $14,000
• T77 Sam Bairstow 8 $13,900
• T77 Fabrizio Zanotti 8 $13,900
• 79 Grant Forrest 14 $13,850