Rory McIlroy will need a spectacular weekend to win a third straight Dubai Desert Classic title after slipping nine shots behind halfway leader Ewen Ferguson on Friday, while Jon Rahm missed the cut.

Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm will go up against each other in Dubai this week, and the pair are in disagreement over the current state of men's professional golf amid the PGA Tour-LIV fallout

But before suffering that freak injury, Hovland parted ways with his swing coach, Joe Mayo, for the second time in 15 months. The two initially separated a few months after Hovland won the FedEx Cup in August 2023 but then re-kindled at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Rory McIlroy will need a spectacular weekend to win a third straight Dubai Desert Classic title after slipping nine shots behind halfway leader Ewen Ferguson

Rory McIlroy has thrown shade at Jon Rahm's 'rose-tinted glasses' view that golf is in its 'golden era', despite the PGA Tour-LIV Golf division. Both McIlroy and Rahm are teeing up at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic this week, and Rahm didn't shy away from singing praises of the current state of golf, even with the tumult caused by rival factions.

A 22-year-old American amateur making his debut on the European tour has upstaged Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and many of the world’s top players at the Dubai Desert Classic for a share of the first-round

For a spell on Friday afternoon the organisers of the Dubai Desert Classic had cause for panic. Jon Rahm had already tumbled out of the tournament after 36 holes, Viktor Hovland was heading the same way and Rory McIlroy was dangerously close to the cut line.