Rory McIlroy speaks out on bubbling issue after desperate finish at Wentworth

Rory McIlroy admitted he has no issues about flying to the Middle East in November to take part in the DP World Tour's playoffs after he stumbled home in the opening round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. 

McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mates, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre, both said they were uncomfortable about travelling to Abu Dhabi and Dubai due to concerns between the ongoing conflict between the United States, Iran and Israel. 

Fitzpatrick accused tour bosses of being "very vague" over plans to retain or move the tournaments elsewhere. 

But the Northern Irishman told reporters after signing for a 3-under 69 he intends to attempt to draw level with Colin Montgomerie's record of eight order of merit titles. 

"Yeah, not for me," McIlroy said when asked if he had any concerns. 

"If the local governments feel like it's safe to put on these events, they are not going to put their citizens or people visiting in harm's way, I imagine. 

"I love the Middle East. I have a lot of friends there, and I'm looking forward to going back for sure."

McIlroy, who won the DP World Tour's flagship event in 2014, once again drew enormous crowds. 

He shot a 12-under 60 in the pro-am yesterday and was the overwhelming pre-tournament favourite. 

Playing alongside 2026 major winners Aaron Rai (66) and Ryan Fox (68), the reigning Masters champion raced out of the blocks. 

Tournament organises made the decision to have a two-tee start this year and the trio began on the back nine. 

McIlroy put circles on his scorecard at the 10th, 12th and added a hat-trick of birdies from the 16th. 

But McIlroy struggled on his second nine, dropping shots at the 3rd, 6th and 8th. A lone birdie at the 4th limited the damage. 

"A stumble home," McIlroy said when asked for his verdict. "There was a lot of good stuff in there, 5-under through 10.

"The wind is gusty out there and really any time the wind picks up, especially around Wentworth, it funnels into the trees.

"You can start to get, not wind switches, but it just gets a bit blustery, and the ball can certainly get moved around a little bit in the air. 

"So, yeah, I wish I was standing here a couple of shots better. 

"That's what I will I feel should be, but overall, I saw some good signs in my game and saw some putts go in which was encouraging compared to last week. 

"Definitely a score to build on as the week goes on."

McIlroy said he felt better on the course than he did last week at the Irish Open. Although he made the cut, he finished 21 shots behind champion Shane Lowry. 

"It definitely still looks better on the range than what I get out there on the course," he added. 

"Over time, if I keep to what I'm doing, you know, it will hopefully start to bed in and it will start to feel and look similar on the course than it does on the range.

"But these things take time. 

"If it's taking me five or six months to get into this bad habit, it's probably going to take me, I'd say, a similar time to get back out of it. 

"I'm giving myself time. There's plenty of time until I ramp up for the Masters again next year. 

"But obviously in the meantime, there's a lot of golf to play and some stuff to win, and hopefully I can still give myself a chance at that as wall."