Opinion: Rory McIlroy’s opening round in India deserves recognition

Rory McIlroy of Holywood, Northern Ireland has had an excellent golf season in 2025. He won at Pebble Beach, The Players Championship, the Masters and Irish Open. This week McIlroy is taking a completely different approach in trying to win the first ever DP World India Championship. That is because in the first round on Thursday, he did not even have a driver in his bag. McIlroy apparently left it in the locker room.

The reason for McIlroy’s decision is rather simple. He thought he would be more effective with a two-iron and three-wood than with a driver.

McIlroy’s creativity in India this week is actually unique and deserves recognition. The bottom line is he is focused on accuracy and making the fairways on a regular basis rather than length. It is rather different. The fact that McIlroy boasted about the fact he did not have his driver made international golf headlines.

So how did McIlroy actually do with this approach? Well, he has shot back-to-back scores of three-under-par 69. In round one, McIlroy had six birdies and three bogeys. He birdied the second, third, seventh, 10th, 14th, and 18th holes, and bogeyed the eighth, and 11th, and 12th holes. Then in the second round, McIlroy had six birdies and three bogeys again. He birdied the third, eighth, 13th, 14th, 16th, and 18th holes, and bogeyed the first, 11th, and 12th holes.

McIlroy is at -6 and tied for 17th place. England’s Tommy Fleetwood is the leader at the halfway point at -12. It will be interesting to see if McIlroy uses the driver over the next two days. He does intend to use it again in Abu Dhabi next month.