For the first time since Rory McIlroy started coming to the tournament 20 years ago, a Hero Dubai Desert Classic ritual has ended.
Admittedly, when the Northern Irishman first turned up as a 16-year-old amateur in 2006, talk about him one day winning The Masters was not quite as fevered as it would one day become.
Only an exclusive group of golfing anoraks were in the know about quite how high the visiting prodigy’s ceiling was.
Then he started hoovering up pro titles, the very first of which was the Desert Classic itself three years later. He ticked off all the majors, until the one that eluded him for the best part of two decades. Well, until last April.
Now, on Thursday morning at the 10th tee of the Majlis, he will be announced as the Masters champion for the first time in a Desert Classic.
And everyone else will have to wonder what is left to talk about. Given he has won everything now, what is there to aim for?
There is plenty, according to the man himself. After his morning round in the pro-am on Wednesday, he mused that an Olympic medal is on his wish list. Winning The Open at St Andrews, too.
“Maybe a US Open at one of those like old, traditional golf courses whether it's Shinnecock this year, or Winged Foot, or Pebble Beach, or Merion,” McIlroy said.
“I would have told you two years ago, if I won the Masters, it would have been great, and I could have retired. But when you keep doing things, the goalposts keep moving, and you just keep finding new things that you want to do.
“I'm sure if I were to achieve those things, I'd probably give you more stuff in four years' time. I think when you're a competitive person, that's just the way you're wired and the way we operate.”
There is plenty that still drives McIlroy. The state of golf itself is one thing guaranteed to animate him, not least the unfixed fissures between LIV Golf and the sport’s establishment.
On the eve of the Classic, he challenged Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm to demonstrate their commitment to the Ryder Cup by settling fines related to their LIV participation.
The two European stars have been penalised significant amounts for tournament clashes between the breakaway tour and the DP World Tour.
Both appealed the fines in 2024 but their case is yet to be heard, and it could preclude their involvement in the defence of the next Ryder Cup.
“Yes, absolutely,” McIlroy said when asked if his two celebrated teammates should pay their fines. “We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups. There’s two guys that can prove it.”
That statement should make for a steady conversation starter when McIlroy tees it up alongside Hatton, the defending champion, on Thursday. They are in the flagship three-ball on the opening day, along with another Ryder Cup star, Tommy Fleetwood.
Hatton followed McIlroy onto the dais at Wednesday’s pre-tournament press briefings, but had to be informed of what had been said.
“I've literally just come off a pro-am,” Hatton said. “I'm not on my phone in the pro-am, so I don't really have anything to add towards what he said.”
Hatton said there was no update to his position with the issue. “It's still with legal teams and there's guys that are still in conversations working it all out,” he said.
“I haven't put any more thought into that. I don't really know what's happening. I'm just here to play golf as always.”
Hatton did say, though, he hopes his Ryder Cup participation will only ever be decided on merit.
“I've always been extremely proud to be a member on the DP World Tour, and certainly over the last couple of years, I've shown commitment to playing events here,” Hatton said.
“And then with the Ryder Cup, it's pretty hard to make those teams, and I've been fortunate to play the last four.
“Everyone says once you've played one, you never want to miss another one, and I'm certainly no different from that. Hopefully I'll be able to play more in the future.
“But hopefully the only thing that stops me from being able to play in them would be age and some younger, much more talented players taking my spot in that sense. Hopefully that's the way that my Ryder Cup career would end.”
