New Delhi, October 15: Rory McIlroy, who has often said that he loves playing in places he has never played in before, ticks one off the list when he tees up on Thursday at the $4 million DP World India Championship at the Delhi Golf Club.

The five-time Major champion headlines a field that includes two other Major champions, Shane Lowry and Brian Harman and a host of world-class players like Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Ben Griffin, alongside two-time Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, who was once World No. 1 for 56 weeks between 2011 and 2012.

Fleetwood returns to India for the first time in nine years – he played at the Indian Open in 2016 – aiming to cap off a standout season with a strong finish as he puts Majors as his focus for 2026.

Shane Lowry returns to India for the first time since 2010, when he played the Avantha Masters and finished T-59. Those were the early days of his career, and now he is a Major champion (2019 Open at Portrush) and a successful Ryder Cup player.

The field has 26 Indians, many of them winners of international events at the DGC layout which include Anirban Lahiri, winner of Indian Open in 2015, Chiragh Kumar and Shiv Kapur.

A good number of visiting players like Eugenio Chacarra, Keita Nakajima and Marcel Siem have won the Hero Indian Open on the DP World Tour, while other players like John Parry, Ugo Coussaud and Max Keiffer have won Challenge Tour events in India, while Tom Aiken won the 2013 Avantha Masters.

An advocate of furthering golf’s globalisation, McIlroy cemented his status as a global golfing icon when he completed the career grand slam at the Masters earlier this year, and he is excited to be taking his game to new surroundings.

“I’m excited to play a golf tournament in a place that I’ve never played before,” he said. “18-odd years into a professional career and to still be able to do things for the first time is something that excites me.”

He added, “I’ve enjoyed getting to play in front of people that I’ve never played in front of before.”

McIlroy spoke last month ahead of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club of a conversation he’d had a few years ago with Roger Federer about how the retired Swiss tennis star wanted to play in events and countries he’d never experienced during the closing stages of his career.

While McIlroy is by no means near to hanging up his clubs, the 36-year-old is clearly valuing the chance to continue to inspire in front of predicted big crowds at a historic venue in the world’s most populous country.

“I’ve watched tournaments on this golf course over the years on TV, and you know, the course certainly lives up to its reputation,” he said. “I’m so excited to get out there and take it on this week.

“Just excited to feet going and can’t wait to play in front of a lot of Indian fans that will hopefully be out there over the next few days.”

“I would say as time goes on, my schedule will get hopefully more international,” he added. “Because that’s what I’ve enjoyed doing. I’ve always said that. But I think over the last few years, I’ve enjoyed it even more. I’ve enjoyed the travel.”

The last time Fleetwood was at Dehli Golf Club, he was ranked 82nd on the Official World Golf Ranking, and had a solitary DP World Tour win that had come three years prior at the 2013 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

By the end of 2017, he ended the season as the winner of the Race to Dubai.

Nine years on, Fleetwood is a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour, a four-time Ryder Cup player and this year broke through on the PGA TOUR for the first-time at the Tour Championship to become just the third man in history to have won both the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai.

Two weeks ago, immediately following his crucial role in helping Europe to a historic 15-13 win over the U.S. Team at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, he broke into the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.

“It is nice to be back [in India],” the 34-year-old told the media on Wednesday at the DP World Tour India Championship.

“It’s been nine years, I think it’s been. I was struggling back here in 2016. That was my last time. So it’s great to come back.

“It’s been a really good year. I think overall, throughout the year, especially the summer, I think I played very consistently, and worked on my game really well. And then just the last month or so, I managed to get that win on the PGA TOUR. It seemed like a really big thing, a big story, and the Ryder Cup came. Just being a part of that winning team was something that was very special.

“So yeah, 2025 has been filled with a lot of good things, but there’s still three more events to go. So just focused on now and trying to make sure I finish as strong as I can.”

Although he may be 90th on the Race to Dubai Ranking, Fleetwood is hoping to continue his momentum in India and begin a strong finish to the season, which culminates in just over a month’s time at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“Strange season. Again, you talk about what a great season I’ve had, and achieved some great things. But similar to the majors, really. I look at the year I’ve had on the Race to Dubai and where I sit, and it’s kind of disappointing to be that far down and not really competing at the top end of the Race to Dubai.”

So Fleetwood’s goal would be a good finish to get to the play-offs.

Co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India, the DP World India Championship features a $4 million prize fund, the largest ever offered for a DP World Tour event in India.

McIlroy, the Race to Dubai leader, is grouped alongside Ryder Cup-winning teammate Viktor Hovland and two-time PGA TOUR winner Ben Griffin over the first two days in Delhi.

Having seen his lead at the summit of the Race to Dubai Rankings reduced by this season’s three-time DP World Tour winner Marco Penge, he will aim to strengthen his pursuit of a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy with his closest pursuer not in action this week.

Confirmed to compete at the DP World Tour Play-Offs next month in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, McIlroy has further shown his drive to test his game as far and wide as possible by signing up to compete in the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne from December 4-7 early next season.