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New year, new golf ball, new set of irons ... same ol' Rory McIlroy. Beginning his 2026 campaign in Dubai as per usual, golf's latest grand slam champion got off to a fast start at the 2026 Dubai Invitational with an opening 5-under 66 to sit atop the DP World Tour event after Round 1.

McIlroy leads David Puig and Connor Syme by a single stroke, while a cluster of competitors that includes Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Patrick Reed occupy spots on the leaderboard at 2 under, three off the early pace.

With new equipment in tow, McIlroy got off to a roaring start that saw four birdies fly onto his scorecard in his first five holes. From there, he was able to cash in three more around the turn and coast into the clubhouse at Dubai Creek Resort. The irons remained the top story as he continues to feel out his new set of P7CBs.

"If there's help to be had, I'll definitely take it," McIlroy said of the full switch to cavity backs. "Yeah, I've been thinking about it for a while. And even in Dubai at the end of last year, I hit a couple of 5-irons that I misstruck slightly, and instead of it maybe coming up 5 or 7 yards short, it was coming up more like 10 to 15 yards short. 

"So, I asked the guys at TaylorMade to build me up a set. And I actually went down to Australia with them, and with that firm turf down there, I felt like those irons were going through the turf better than the blades. And I practiced with them at home since. And I've got a new golf ball in play this week as well, the new 2026 ball. So overall, I like what I've seen at home, and today was a good test for it, and I felt like everything was pretty good."

McIlroy's move is not that surprising when analyzing his numbers from 2025. Though he won four times around the world and led the Europeans to a triumph at the Ryder Cup, his approach figures quietly dipped as the season progressed. By the end of the year, he produced his worst strokes gained approach season since his rookie year on the PGA Tour and was buoyed by the best putting numbers of his career.

Notably, the 36-year-old particularly struggled with his mid irons. For all the talk of his wedge play and the improvements made last winter and spring, McIlroy fell off pace from 150-175 yards. He connected on less than 60% of greens in regulation from that distance -- roughly 15% less than the leader on the PGA Tour and 10% less than his previous year. Proximity and scoring experienced a drop, too.

So, while this season may not be one ripe with motivational pillars like the last -- career grand slam aspirations, an Open in his home country and a Ryder Cup in the United States -- McIlroy suggests he may not need them as the work and the process of getting better is enough. If the first round in Dubai is any indication, he is well on his way.

"I like the work. I like the process. I enjoy doing challenging things," McIlroy said. "And I think, if you can make that the important part, and you just make that routine, then you don't need motivation to do it. It's your lifestyle. It's what you do. And it's, I guess, who you identify as. And I identify as a hard worker and someone that likes to do those things, and I think the more and more you do that, the more it just sort of becomes who you are. And I've done it for so long now that if I didn't do it, it would feel pretty foreign at this point."